An Unwilling Love
by xXKingdomxXHeartsxXGirl
Summary: Talia was the nerd. Sora was the somewhat popular kid. When they accidentally meet they fall in love Or maybe it's just Sora . But there's one problem, their friends don't like them together and will do ANYTHING to break them up. OCxSora
1. Chapter 1

Sora passed his way through the crowds of people in the cafeteria. His lunch tray almost fell out of his hands as a girl rushed passed him on her cell phone. When he finally reached the lunch table where Kairi, Riku, he, and other friends sat, he slammed the tray on the table.

"What's your problem?" Kairi asked as she munched on a chip.

"Nothing." Sora replied to the red headed girl.

"So, did you guys hear about the nerd?" Riku suddenly spoke up, while poking at what looked like meatloaf.

"Yep, I heard she got another A on her science test." Kairi munched on another chip before wiping her mouth.

"I never met her." Sora spoke.

"You haven't? How could you not? She's the smartest person in the school. Everyone knows her." Kairi slammed her hands on the table.

"Well, what is her name then?" Sora said as he picked up his fork and poked at his green breadstick.

"I heard it was Talia something." Riku said as he picked up his meatloaf and smelled it. "How come this smells like a brownie?"

"It is a brownie." Kairi giggled as Riku instantly dropped the brownie and pushed his tray away from him.

"So… what does she look like?" Sora asked, suddenly getting interested in the school's smartest girl.

"No one knows for sure. She goes to class when no one is looking, and inside the class she's so quiet that no one notices her." Kairi said.

"I heard she was bald." Riku sipped on his fruit punch. "This doesn't taste right."

"It's milk." Kairi laughed as Riku spat out the reddish milk.

"I'm going to find her." Sora eyes sparkled as he thought of a diabolical plan.

"Good luck with that. Everyone at least tried to find her once. The only ones who actually know her are her friends." Kairi said as she pointed at a table with 3 boys and 1 girl sitting at it.

Sora looked at them and thought he saw another girl. He saw a glimpse of blue hair but it quickly disappeared as he blinked.

Kairi stood up and brushed herself off. "Well, I'm going to get to class before I'm late."

"Yeah, me too." Riku grabbed his backpack off the back of the chair and walked behind Kairi towards their next class.

Sora glanced back at the table and saw everyone was gone. He best better get to class before he was late too. He threw his lunch away and left the once crowded now empty cafeteria.

_Ring!_

Sora's eyes widen as the late bell rung. He couldn't afford to be late again. His teacher told him next time he was late it would lead to a detention. Sora ran down the hallway, his vision blurry from the wind as he ran. He didn't notice a girl bent down tying her shoe. His books flipped out of his hands as he tripped over the girl. Instead of feeling the hard hallway floor, he felt something warm against him. He opened his eyes and saw he was in an awkward position with the same girl. She froze in place and stared at him. He looked at the girl too.

"Um… can you get off please?" She asked in a sweet but demanding voice.

Sora scrambled to his feet and offered her a hand to help her up. She lightly pushed his hand away and stood up on her own. She grabbed his books and handed it to him.

"Thank you." Sora nervously said to the girl in front of him.

She had blue hair that was brushed to the left side of her, half covering her left eye. She wore a short sleeve white blouse with the sleeves rolled up. The first button was unbuttoned, revealing part of her chest. She wore a blue tie that hung loosely around her neck. She had on a light blue skirt and black tennis shoes. Sora had to admit she was very beautiful, but how come he has never seen her before.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked him, taking notice he was staring a little too long at her.

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." Sora apologized.

She waved her hand to tell him it was okay. "No, it's my fault. Olette told me I should stop tying my shoe in the middle of the hall."

Olette? That name sounded too familiar to Sora. Wasn't she that girl that always hung out with Roxas? She also had an obsession with flowers didn't she?

"Oh it's okay. By the way, I'm Sora," He held out his hand for her to shake.

"I'm Talia," She nodded his head to him.

Sora froze and stared at the girl. Wasn't Talia the school nerd? Maybe this wasn't the Talia Kairi and Riku were talking about. Didn't nerds usual have big glasses and wear sweaters and overalls pulled up all the way to their armpits?

"Talia!?" Sora said surprised at the girl in front of him.

"Ugh, you're one of the guys who think just because I'm a smart I'm geeky and stuff. I hate people like that. You shouldn't judge people by their looks or smartness." Talia yelled, half talking to her.

"No, I'm sorry. I just heard about you from my friends. They told me you were barely ever seen around the school." Sora quickly said to her.

"Just as I figured. People think just because I'm quiet I don't have any friends or anything." Talia held her head while shaking it.

"I guess I better get to class, um, see you later I guess." Sora ran down the hallway to his class.

Talia turned around and stared at the running boy.

He would _**definitely **_see her again.


	2. Chapter 2

"Kairi." Sora whispered to Kairi to get her attention.

Kairi turned around and looked at him. "What?"

"I met her."

"Met who?"

"Talia."

She simply laughed. "Sure Sora and I'm that little voice that haunts you in your sleep."

"It's true! She has blue hair, greenish blue eyes, and a serious but cute look." Sora debated back to his red haired friend.

"Sora… like I said before. No one knows for sure what Talia looks like." Kairi laughed again.

"She told me her name! She even said things that told me she was the nerd."

"So what if you did meet her? It's not like you're going to see her again." Kairi shrugged and turned back around to face the teacher.

"I want to meet her again though. She seemed… so… so different than most girls." Sora said, his voice mixed with hope and determination.

Kairi tensed up as she heard what Sora said. Could he possibly have falling in love with a girl he just met. How does she even know if he really met the school "nerd?" Kairi loved Sora more than any other person (besides her family). Kairi shrugged it off, maybe she has nothing to worry about, right?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I quickly jolted down my answers as my teacher gave me yet another pop quiz. I had no clue why Mr. Axel wanted me to get a "B" so badly.

"Times up," He shouted and slowly walked towards me with a sly smirk plastered on his face.

"Why does he dislike Talia so much?" Roxas whispered over to Olette.

"He hates that she's smarter than him." Olette let out a heavy sigh.

"ANOTHER A+? That's impossible! How do you know so much about my life?" Axel fussed mostly to himself. He thought for surely I would fail, since the test was basically on his life.

"Simple." I smirked. "The test questions were about how many dates you have had with women and another was is it true that you secretly like Roxas. The last question made me awkward though."

Roxas's eyes widen as I told the whole class the questions on the test. Most were about how Axel secretly…"wanted" Roxas. Who would have ever guessed?

"Um… class dismissed." Axel blushed as the class hurried out, except for five best friends.

As they reached the front of the classroom, they're eyes were widen, except for mines though. We quickly left and rushed to our lockers.

"Okay…whose house are we going over today?" Hayner slammed is locker door.

"My mom is cooking again." Pence quickly said, knowing how his mom wasn't the best of cooking. In fact, last time we ate there the food moved.

"My cousin is having her ninth birthday party at my house." Olette sighed.

"I forgot my house key, and my mom won't be home until late." Roxas shook his head.

"Nice going bird brain." Hayner hit Roxas upside his head.

I giggled. "My mom is home, and her food is decent. We could go over my house."

"Brilliant! I like your house better anyways." Hayner grinned widely at me.

"Hey babe."

"I think he's talking to you Talia." Pence said in disgust.

I turned around and saw my boyfriend, Seifer, coming down the hallway with his slaves…er…friends with him. He came up to me and kissed me on top of my forehead.

I smiled up at him. "Hi Seifer."

"What's up? Want to hang out today," He smiled at me.

I seemed to ignore his question as I saw three people walk past me. One was a girl and two other boys. I knew one of them was Riku, but the other boy look familiar.

"Tal?" Seifer waved his hand in front of my face.

I lightly pushed it away. "Um…I was planning on hanging with my friends."

"What do you see in these losers?" Seifer glared at Hayner and Roxas.

"Hey! Calm down, they did nothing to you so don't start up Seifer." I placed my hands on my hips and gave him a cold glare.

"Let's leave." Fuu, Seifer's friend, said.

"See you later Talia. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow since its Saturday," He waved bye to me.

I waved back slightly and turned to my friends. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," They all said in unison.

We walked down the almost empty hallway laughing and talking about what happened in our classes we didn't have together. I didn't notice my friends suddenly stop walking and I ran into something.

I looked up and saw a tall person. He looked familiar.

"Oh my gosh! Sora you klutz," The girl wearing a short pink dress half yelled at the boy who bumped into me.

"Sora?" I tried to remember where I had heard that name before. "Oh yeah… you're the one who tripped over me."

A small blushed appeared on Sora's face. "Sorry about that."

I smiled at him. "No problem. Like I said, it was my fault."

"I bet she was tying her shoe in the middle of the hallway again." Olette giggled.

"Olette zip it." I snapped at her.

"Hi, I'm Kairi and this is my friend Riku. Nice to meet you." Kairi smiled at me.

I nodded my head at her and looked back at Sora. "Sorry again. See you tomorrow."

I grabbed Olette's hand and we both paced down the hallway with Hayner, Roxas, and Pence following along.

"She seems nice." Riku sighed.

"I don't like the way she looked at Sora." Kairi whispered so only Riku could hear.

"Well, then you must not be happy the way Sora blushed when she bumped into him." Riku said aloud, not really caring that Sora could hear.

"What?" Sora looked at the two.

"Nothing… let's go home." Kairi quickly changed the subject and jolted down the hallway.

"So you weren't joking when you said you met the school nerd." Kairi looked at Sora while he flipped through channels on the TV.

"Nope."

"I don't like her." Kairi confronted to Sora.

Sora looked up at her with a slightly confused face. "Why's that?"

"I don't know. She seems…snobby." Kairi shivered.

"Selphie is snobby…and you're still her friend." Riku flipped through his book.

"No she's not!" Kairi defended her best friend. "Well, I'm going to keep an eye on her."

"How? You barely see her in the hallway." Riku made another point.

"Sora when was it that you were going to class?" Kairi looked at the boy who was sitting on the floor, flipping through channels.

"Um…right after lunch I think. I was the last one leaving the cafeteria. And she was tying her shoe." Sora shrugged. "I doubt she'd be in the same place Kairi."

"Hm…maybe."

Riku sat his book down and gave Kairi a curios look. "What are you planning Kai?"

"Nothing…nothing at all…"


	3. Chapter 3

Once again it was Monday. Time to wake up at 6am and get dressed for school. At least that's what normal teenagers do…

I was dressed and had already had eaten by 5. And it was just turning 6:30. I was now studying for my major test that all seniors had to take to graduate from High School. I'd have to leave pretty soon if I want to get to school on time…without being seen. I packed my books and slowly crept down the stairs to the front door. The sun was now rising as it turned 7.

I squinted my eyes as the bright morning sun greeted me as I stepped outside my house. I started to walk to Destiny Islands to begin another "wonderful" school day at Destiny High.

Sora panicked. He's never been early to school before. What do early birds do when they arrive the school, he thought to himself. You see, Kairi and Riku were suppose to walk to school with him and when Sora waited for about an hour or so and saw they weren't coming he started to head towards the school since it was 8am when he left. And class started at 9. Then half way to the school…he remembered that he forgot to set his clock last night. Story of his life.

"So my dad is coming…" Sora heard a familiar say behind him. It sounded not too far away from him. Hopefully it's someone he knows!

Sora turned around and saw Olette, Hayner, Pence, Roxas, and Talia talking under a tree blooming in apples. His eyes wandered off to Talia. She sat with her legs crossed while fiddling with a nearby rock. Roxas was munching on an apple and Olette was reading. Hayner and Pence were doing their homework Sora guessed. Sora continued to stare at Talia. She was so beautiful. And not to mention smart! Sora could never get a girl like Talia Kisaragi. He instantly froze as Talia met his eye contact. She gave him a gentle smile and lightly waved at him. He waved back at her.

Sora then looked as Seifer and his friends walked past him up to Talia. Talia had her smile still on as she stood up and kissed the boy on his cheek. Sora instantly blushed of embarrassment as he realized she wasn't waving and smiling at him…but to _Seifer._

"I thought we agreed to walk to school together!" Kairi tapped Sora on his shoulder behind him.

"Oh sorry. I set my clock wrong…and got to school early." Sora didn't turn around to see Kairi or Riku, he continued to stare at Talia and her friends.

"Are you looking at Seifer? You do know Seifer and Talia is an item don't you?" Riku questioned his staring friend.

Kairi glared at Talia. It was too late; the nerd had already caught Sora's heart and was holding it captive.

Kairi turned towards the school as the bell rung. "Let's get to class. I don't want to be late."

"Okay." Sora nodded in agreement and him and Riku started to walk towards the school; leaving Kairi behind.

Kairi smirked as she saw Talia's friends leave. Seifer and his posse left soon afterwards. Time to put my plan in action, she thought. Kairi walked…or twisted over to Talia.

I gathered my books and stood up. I wiped off my skirt just in case grass had gotten on me. I glanced up as I saw a girl smile sweetly at me. I think her name was…Kairi? Yeah, that's what it was! Kairi.

"Hi Talia," She smiled at me.

"Hi Kairi." I smiled back at her.

"So…how are you and Seifer doing?" Kairi asked me.

"How do you know - never mind. I forgot you're _popular_." I made a disgusted face.

"Hm well this is true. But that's not the reason I came over here. Let's say I have a friend…named…Sky." Kairi began.

"You mean Sora." I pointed out.

"Impressive. You are smart. Well, let's say he likes you. What do you think of him?" Kairi raised her eye brow. She expecting her to blush and stutter.

I simply made another disgusted face. "No thanks. I mean he's cute, but not my type. I don't date popular kids. I can be his friend though. I'm always up for making new friends."

"Oh really? Well, he'd be happy to hear that, but can you promise something for me?" Kairi smirked.

"What?"

"If you develop feelings for him during your friendship, promise me you won't tell him. If anything, tell him you only think of him as a friend and your feelings won't change for him. Tell him he'd be better off with…someone else." Kairi said her words carefully.

"Kairi, like I'm really going to develop feelings for him, but I'll promise you." I started to walk towards the school, "And your secret about liking Sora is safe with me."

Kairi gasped. How did Talia know she liked Sora?

Man, she really was smart.

Homeroom was over quicker than I thought. Now it was lunch time and I was heading towards the cafeteria. I crinkled my nose as I smelled the tuna fish salad they were serving and the mighty meat. The mighty meat usually consisted of chicken (Moldy), turkey (From Thanksgiving), corn (Not from the cob), cheese (4 months old), and a nice helping of gravy (And the best part its green)!

Now you may be asking yourself, why in the world would I buy this trash? Well. Pence eats anything he sees…and I do mean anything. I usually buy school lunch for him and drink some cappuccino.

"Sorry doll, we're all out of cappuccino."

"What?!? What am I suppose to eat for lunch?" I asked the lunch lady.

"You got that mighty meat," She replied to my question.

"Yeah…" I walked away from her and spotted my friends at are usual table.

I sat down and slid my tray over to Pence; who had 3 other trays of mighty meat around him. Olette looked at the expression on my face and instantly knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong Tally?" Olette patted my hand gently.

"They didn't have any more cappuccino." I pouted.

"Go get something from the snack machine smart one." Hayner smirked at me.

I looked at the snack machine then back at Hayner. "Do you see the line? By the time I get there lunch will be over."

"Like you leave the cafeteria as soon as the bell rings." Hayner stuck his tongue out at me.

"Well, I still don't want to wait. You know I'm impatient." I put my head on the table.

"Then starve." Hayner said plainly.

"Fine, I will."

"Here Tally." Roxas poured his bag of chips on a napkin and divided them.

And when I say divided them, I mean divide them to make sure we both got an equal amount. Which was fair…I guess.

"Aw thanks Roxas!" I happily reached over the table and got my half of chips. I popped them one by one in my mouth happily.

Roxas blushed. "A-Anytime."

Hayner smirked and nudged Roxas in his arm. Roxas snapped his head towards him and glared. Hayner put his hands up in defense and went back to eating his lunch. I was too busy crunching on my chips to notice anything.

"Talia, I don't understand this question!" Seifer came up to our table and pushed Olette from beside me and squeezed in between us.

"You can say excuse me." Olette glared at him.

"Shut up."

"Seifer!" I gave him a warning glare.

He smiled widely at me before handing me his pencil and pointed at his homework that he was suppose to do at home. Get it? Do it at home? Homework? Oh forget it.

"This is so simple a kindergartener can do it." I stated to my boyfriend. "You have to add 5 and 6 then divide it by 7…"

"That's al-"

"Then you have to set up a proportion and multiply your answer by 15 by the answer you got from your proportion. Easy as pie." I smiled at him.

"Uh…can you do it for me," He lifted my chin up to face him and planted a gentle kiss on my lips.

I blushed big time while my friends made a disgusted face.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Pence pushed all his mighty meats away from him.

"It would be so romantic…if it was someone else." Olette frowned.

"Okay. I'll do it for you." I smiled at him.

"Thanks babe. And here is Fuu's and Rai's too," He handed me their homework and walked away.

I let out a sigh and picked up my pencil and started jolting down problems of all sorts. My friends looked at me with pity. They all knew Seifer was only dating me to use me…except me of course. I was blinded in "love."

The bell had rung several minutes ago. I was still in the cafeteria doing homework. I knew I was going to be late for class…but hopefully my teachers would understand (with an exception from Mr. Axel).

"Hi!" I looked up at the person who just spoke to me. My eyes met blue ones.

"Hey…Sora." I looked back down the scattered papers in front of me.

"Last minute homework," He sat across from me.

"Not really. My boyfriend and his friends didn't understand the problems…so I'm doing it for them." I shrugged.

"Like being used," He asked me.

I abruptly looked up at him. "No…"

"Yes." Sora said.

"What makes you say that?" I questioned him.

"Well, he didn't understand the homework. He should have told the teacher to help him instead of asking you to do it for him. And he probably did something to make you say yes to do it for him. Right?"

"Yeah." I thought about the kiss he gave me before leaving. "You're right."

"I know," He grinned at me.

I giggled and smiled at him. Our eyes met and we both quickly looked away. I twisted my hair around my finger. Sora suddenly took deep interest in his shoes.

Awkward silence much?

"Tally you're going to be late to class! Larxene told me to come find…you." Olette froze and stared as she saw Sora and I sitting at the same table. "Er…did I interrupt something?"

"No. Sora was telling me how Seifer was using me. He probably does it a lot too and I'm too…sophisticated to notice." I made a face. "You guys were right, he is a jerk."

"Well I'll be going now. Bye Talia and Olette." Sora waved and quickly walked out the cafeteria. Olette glared at Sora before quickly turned back to Talia.

"Let's go."

"Okay."

I walked out the cafeteria, leaving Seifer's homework on the table.

"You what!?!"

"I didn't do it. My…friend told me something. And I'm going with his advice." I smiled at Seifer.

"Which friend!?! Pence? Roxas? Hayner? Which one of them told you this?" Seifer fumed at me.

"Neither of them. I met this friend on Friday." I smiled at him.

"Who is he?" Seifer frowned.

"I'm not telling. You don't have to know who ALL my friends are." I frowned back at him.

"Yes I do! And what is worse it's a guy! He could easily steal you away from me," He glared at me.

"Well not if you lose me first!" I stomped away.

"So does this mean we're over Talia?" Seifer called after me.

"Tell me what you think!" I yelled back.

"Um…"

"Exactly. I'll talk to you later Seifer." I glared and went to my locker.

Sora grabbed his book bag and started walking home. He jumped as he felt a tap from behind him.

"Yes Kairi," He turned around to face…

…Olette.

"Oh sorry Olette. It's just Kairi is the one who usually tap me." Sora apologized to the brunette.

"No problem….but I have a problem." Olette suddenly got a serious face.

"Um…what is it?" Sora asked.

"Stay away from her." Hayner popped out of nowhere and glared at Sora.

"Who?"

"Don't act like you don't know. Stay away from Talia." Roxas glared at Sora.

"Um…why?" Sora was confused now.

"What's wrong Sora?" Kairi and Riku walked up to the troubled 18 year old.

"Tell your friend to stay away from Talia." Hayner glared at Kairi.

"Then tell your friend to stay away from Sora." Kairi returned the look.

Riku and Pence looked at each other. They instantly know they were thinking about the same thing.

"Like Talia needs Sora. She has Roxas." Olette stepped in.

"Talia Kisaragi doesn't even _like_ Roxas." Kairi frowned.

"Well she could…if your friend will just stay away from her." Hayner coldly glared at Sora.

"Talia doesn't even like me okay?!? She has Seifer!" Sora really wanted to put an end to the fighting. He didn't like when people didn't get along. "Let's just go home."

"Just keep your nerd away from the popular kids. Understood?" Kairi said.

"And keep you popular kids away from us nerds." Roxas turned around and started walking down the hallway.

Sora, Riku, and Pence let out a sigh.

Little did they know that this was going to be happening from here on out.


	4. Chapter 4

I sat on the living room couch with my arms crossed. I glared at nothing in particular as I waited impatiently. Today my father was coming to visit me for my graduation next Saturday. Who knows why he was coming this early…but anyway. I didn't like my father too much. He walked out on my mom and me when I was 6. He would occasionally come to visit, but to tell you the truth. I don't give a damn about my father.

"Oh Tally he's here!" My mom rushed to the door to answer it.

"Gee….that is wonderful. You do know I have to go to school and its 5 miles away right?" I sarcastically said. My mother turned around and glared at me.

"Hey Alana." I heard that dark voice. I shivered and rolled my eyes.

"Hi! I'm so glad you could come! Talia is happy that you're here!" My mom showed my dad into the house. "She's right in the living room. Tally gets your butt out here."

I walked into the front room and looked at the man in front of me. He had greenish blue eyes like me and black hair (Yeah, my blue hair comes from my mom). I smiled slightly at him. His eyes widen with amusement as he got a good look at me.

"Tally! My have you grown. Last time I saw you, your hair wasn't as nearly as this long and you were not really…" He was unsure to say the last part.

I let out a sigh. "Developed maybe?"

"Yeah. So how is school going?" He sat down on the couch.

"You tell me." I pointed at the paper covered fridge. He looked at the fridge. Every test, quiz, and homework had A+'s on them.

"Wow, my little girl is very smart I see. Ha ha ha, doesn't surprise me though. You're a lot like your mom." My dad laughed quietly to himself.

"Hm, well I have to go to school. See you later." I grabbed my back pack off the couch and headed out the door.

"…She's different." My father said to himself.

I was at my locker putting my books away. For some strange feeling, I felt someone was watching me. As I zipped around to see who it was, I was attacked in a kiss. Guess who it was?

Seifer.

I pushed him away and glared at him. "I'm still mad at you."

"For what baby," He wrapped his hands around my waist and kissed me tenderly. I wasn't going to let myself to be fooled again. I pushed him away roughly and gave him a warning look.

"Seifer stop! I…I don't love you anymore…" I looked down at the floor. I felt the tears start to come.

Seifer froze in place. What in the world was Talia talking about? She would be _**nothing**_ without him.

"Talia stop joking. You still love me. If you break up with me…you'd be nothing in this school. The little people that know you would easily forget who you are." Seifer smirked.

I snapped my head up at him. Seifer backed up a step. He looked deeply in my tear filled eyes, but what scared him the most was my eyes. They were green. And when my eyes were green it usually meant I was pissed off.

"You think the only reason people notice me is because of you? You have to be kidding me! I would be just fine without you in my life. So do me one last thing. Stay out of my life." I slammed my locker and walked off towards class. After I was sure I was out of eye distance from Seifer, I smiled the biggest smile that I ever did in years.

I was free again! From Seifer anyways.

Today was going to be a new me. I am going to start walking in the halls when people are still around. And I'm going to get to class on time and be less quiet in class. I felt proud of myself very much. My friends walked up to me in a hurry as they saw me in the hallway.

"Tally, have you seen Sora?" Roxas said Sora in what sounded in an angry tone.

"Um…no. Why?" I asked him.

"Um…Because…he's….he's-"

"Plotting something against you!" Hayner quickly said before I got suspicious.

"Hayner I don't have time for your little games. I'm going to be late to class. Plus I just broke up with Seifer and really don't need any more pressure on me right now."

Olette gasped. "You broke up with Seifer?"

"Yeah. We weren't really working out." I explained.

"That's wonderful!" I raised a brow at Olette as she quickly changed her expression. Why was she so happy about? Friends usually have sympathy for you after you just broke up with your boyfriend.

"Yeah…so I'm going to class now." I said.

Hayner nodded towards Roxas. Olette gave him the thumbs up. Pence simply shrugged. Roxas smiled nervously and ran up to catch up with me.

"Hey Talia. Let me walk you to class." Roxas smiled at me.

"Um…sure?" I said unsurely. We continued to walk as we came upon an awkward silence. I was so relieved when we reached to the front of the door to my classroom.

"See you later." Roxas took a deep breath and hugged me. I froze. My books fell out my hands as I stood completely still. Afraid to move.

"Look its Talia!" I heard one of my classmates say. Then I heard the rushing of feet and chairs squeaking against the floor.

Sora was writing down the assignment when he heard a kid scream out "Look its Talia!" Sora was about to get up and see her, but then he remembered what her friends said to him yesterday…

Just keep you popular kids away from us nerds.

Sora flinched slightly at those harsh words. What was he worrying for? Most likely Talia was by herself. Sora stood up and squeezed through piles of students. When he was in clear view he saw her. He stared at her. She caught his eye contact and smiled at him. Sora looked around to make sure she wasn't smiling at someone else. He turned back at her and saw her confused look. That's when he realized she was smiling at him. Sora blushed slightly and smiled back at her. He didn't even notice Roxas was hugging her. He saw only her.

I smiled at Sora before turning my attention back to my friend who was still hugging me. I lightly pushed him off.

"Thanks for walking me to class. See you later Roxas." I waved to him as I made my way into the classroom. The students made a path for me to get by. I stopped halfway and stared at them. They quickly turn their attention to something else. I quickly sat in the very far back and looked as my classmates scrambled to their seats. What was up with them?

"Okay okay settle down class!" Mr. Vexen said. I hated this teacher as much I loved my favorite teacher, Mr. Axel (Believe it or not).

I rested my head on my arm as I paid very little attention to my teacher. Kairi looked at me. She slightly glared at me while staring. She quickly took out a pen and piece of paper and wrote something down. Folding it up neatly, she passed it to me. My eyes wandered to the paper that sat perfectly still on my desk. I was unsure if I should pick it up. What if I did and it exploded and killed me?

Or worse.

What if the red head was trying to get me in trouble with Vexen? I surely did **not** want to spend detention with him. Just the thought of it made me shiver a bit. Ignoring my possible theories, I opened the letter carefully.

"Stay away from Sora. And tell your damn nosy friends to mind their own business. Forget about our promise yesterday. I'm changing it. From now on you **will** stay away from Sora." I read quietly to myself. Who in the fucking world did Kairi think she was? She can't tell me to tell what to do! I'm my **own person** damn it!

I looked up at her. She sat with her leg crossed over her other leg. Her look made me nervous. She was smirking with an arched brow. Indeed this made me feel tiny and not the "big person" in this situation.

"Vexen, Talia is passing notes in the classroom." Kairi said oh so innocently. The look of an innocent little girl on her face. "I think that if she is able to pass notes, we all should be able to."

I fumed. All eyes were now on me as Vexen made his way over to my desk. I resisted the urge to sink down in my desk, but instead I looked up at Vexen.

"Hi Mr. Vexen. How was your day today? Mine has been wonderful so far." I smiled sweetly at him.

"Humph. Tell me, why were you passing notes in my classroom," He glared at me.

"Well you see I got this note from Kairi. I was going to reply but instead I was going to throw it away." I smiled nervously.

"Prove to me it is from her." Vexen harshly said to me, spraying me with his saliva.

I blinked awkwardly before wiping my face off. I picked up the note and looked everywhere on the paper. Nothing was there. I could have sworn her name was on it.

Oh this chick was clever. A clever little sneak.

"I'm waiting Ms. Kisaragi." Vexen impatiently tapped his foot. I laughed nervously and looked up at him. "This funny…you're going to laugh once I tell you!"

"Oh really," He faked a smile and sounded all girly girl.

"Kairi seemed to forget to put her name on the note. So…I have no proof…oh damn." I whispered the last part to myself. He was definitely going to give me detention.

"I knew one of these days the goody two shoes were going to get in trouble. Detention! I'll see you after school…Kisaragi."

I finally let my urge get the best of me as I slid in the chair. Kairi was laughing quietly to herself. Oh was Kairi on my list now. Never communicate with the popular kids. I now realize that. They will just pretend to be on your side then **BANG**. Shoot you down like you're nothing.

And the Sora thing. Kairi **cannot **tell me what to do. And never will she!

The bell rung and everyone rushed out the class. Except me, who sat in my desk with my head down. Sora looked at me. He couldn't help but feel sorry for me. Vexen pulled up his glasses and saw Sora standing in front of his desk, staring at Talia.

"Do you need something Sora?" Vexen closed his book and clasped his hands together.

"Oh no… I'll be going now." Sora's eyes wandered off to Talia.

"You know…she's been like that ever since I assigned her detention. Why don't you try and cheer her up."

"Me? N-no thanks." Sora stuttered. Vexen simply shook his head.

"Sora, I'm not the romance expert. But I can tell the way you look at her; you have deep feelings for her. Go talk to her. I may not like Talia that much, but doesn't mean I don't care for my students." Vexen said.

Sora nodded his head slowly and made his way over to her. He took a desk beside her. Talia obviously didn't notice him as she didn't move an inch.

"Um…" Sora was unsure of what to say to her.

She still stood still.

He cleared his throat.

Nothing.

"KISARAGI!!" Vexen yelled at the young woman.

Sora watched as Talia instantly snapped her head up towards the teacher. "Never mind" Vexen smiled evilly at her.

I let out a sigh and looked at the floor. How many more minutes before I get out of this jail cell? My eyes wandered up towards a certain person. I could tell it was Sora.

"Hey Sora." I said, still looking at the ground.

"H-hi," A tint of pink colored Sora's cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" I finally looked up at the boy.

"Um…I…er…I am-"

"I told him to stay back." Vexen made up an excuse for him.

"Yeah." Sora smiled nervously at me.

"Well you probably already know why I'm here." I said in disgust.

Sora nodded his head. "I didn't think you were the type to write notes."

"That's the thing. _I'm not_. No offence when I say this, but Kairi purposely wanted to get me in trouble. The way she smirked at me." Sora laughed slightly as he saw me shiver.

"That sounds like Kairi. Don't worry. I'll talk to her." Sora grinned.

"No!" I snapped my head at him. "No no no! That would break our…promise." I let out sigh as I remembered her sigh. "I'm not the type to break promises."

Sora tilted his head slightly. "What promise?"

I smiled weakly at him. "Don't worry about it."

"Tell me. I won't tell her." Sora grinned at me.

That's when the trouble started. I looked at him. No not look at him, like really _really_ looked at him for the first time. I felt my cheeks heat up. Oh no! I was blushing. But…why? I don't have feelings for Sora…do I?

"Okay…but do you promise?" I arched a brow.

"Promise."

"Good-"

"Unless…" Sora pretended to stroke an invisible beard.

"Sora!" I playfully glared.

"Just kidding. I promise not to tell. No matter of horrible," He smiled at me.

"Well…Kairi told me to stay away from you. And keep my friends in their own business." I sighed.

"You don't have to listen to her you know?" Sora's face suddenly got serious.

"I know. But what really made me mad is that she lied! And she can't tell me what to do! What if I do want to see you again?!" The last part slipped. I gasped and quickly covered my mouth. My eyes filled with terror and fear.

Sora blushed slightly and laughed a little. "We should come up with a plan to get pay back with Kairi!"

I gave Sora a questioning look. "Really? But you're her friend."

"And believe it or not you're my friend. And I draw the line when my friend does something to bother my other friend." Sora frowned.

"Okay…but how can we get her back?"

"Don't worry Tally. I have the _perfect _plan."


	5. Chapter 5

"Ah good morning Talia." My father greeted me. I slightly waved at him and walked over to the coffeepot and poured some coffee in a mug.

"You drink coffee," he blinked at me.

"Yes." I said simply as I added my sugar and cream. I took a sip of the sweet but somewhat bitter taste.

"What are you doing after school today?" Dad smiled at me.

"Hanging out with my friends. Why?" I took another sip of the coffee before setting it down and packing my back pack.

"I thought we could hang out. Like father and daughter time."

I turned around and glared at him. "Okay… I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I i_don't/i_ have a father. The only person I'm the daughter of is Alana Kisaragi, my mom. As far as I'm concerned, my "dad" died in a tram car accident. Okay? Yeah you can come to my graduation, but i_don't/i_ do anything to seem like I'm your daughter. Because from this point on, you're like a hobo that was on the streets and my mom just suddenly let in our family."

My father's….not father…Vincent's mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe a word I just said. He felt like a killer came in and stab him in the heart several times. I waved bye to him and walked out the door.

My mom came down the stairs and stared in disbelief at Vincent. He looked down at the ground as my mom grasped him in a hug filled with love and sympathy.

"I'll talk to her…" she tried to comfort him.

"Maybe…coming here was a mistake after all." Vincent

I looked at the small neatly folded up piece of paper in my hand. The numbers "7980" repeating in my head. I smiled when I saw the spiky brown boy at his locker getting his books.

"Er…Hi." I tapped him on his shoulder. Sora instantly jumped and dropped his books on the floor. He turned around and let out a breath of relief. I giggled at him as I bent down and picked up his books. "Sorry…"

"No problem. Er, thanks," he smiled as I handed him back his books.

"So...when did you wanna start this plan thing?" I arched a brow at him.

"Plan?" Sora looked at me dumbfounded. Was he serious? Did he forget about the plan that quickly? Gosh, it was just yesterday he told me about it.

"Oh yeah. Ha, my bad. Um… after school," he questioned me to make sure that was good enough time.

"Sure…I don't want to go straight home after school anyway." A worried expression made its way to my face. I could feel the guilt rising up in me.

"Why?" Sora looked at my worried expression. I threw him a fake smile and shook my head.

"Its family issues that's all." I smiled at him. "I'll see you after school okay?"

"Okay…"

I gave him a quick smile and turned around to head back to my locker.

"Hey Talia…" I turned around back to Sora.

Sora's cheeks turned a light pink color. "I know we don't know each other well but… you can tell me anything okay? You're secrets and private stuff is safe with me." He did his famous grin I heard about around the school. A warm feeling touched my heart as the fake smile on my face turned into a soft real one. I nodded my head at him and started back walking towards my locker.

Kairi pranced down the hallway texting a nerd…I mean classmate, about her homework she had asked them to do. Riku followed behind her, secretly giving her the stare of doom behind her back.

"Riku…" Riku bumped into his red head friend as she came to a halt. "What?"

"I got a text from Sora. He's hanging out with someone else today…" Kairi made a frown as only one person came to her mind.

"And? I have a date with that hot Rikku girl today." Riku smirked as he thought of the spunky blonde.

"Cancel your plans with her. You'll be hanging out with me today."

"But Kairi! Rikku is one of the sexiest girls in school! It's hard to reschedule a date with her. It took me almost two days for her just to say yes to me." Riku complained. The red head just simply shook her head.

"Riku do you i_want_/i to lose Sora to some nerd? I know I don't want to. So you're going to help me!" Kairi looked the silverette in his aquamarine eyes.

"But I'm not the one in love with him! It's you! I could really care less who Sora is interested in!" Riku said as they started to walk towards Kairi's locker.

"Listen," Kairi opened her pink locker and looked on her personal clothes racket for her gym uniform (Not to mention that's also pink). "You're going to help me or not."

"Hi Riku!" Riku blushed as he turned around to come face to face with Rikku. "Hey."

"Oh Rikku! I'm glad you're here dear!" Kairi made kissy faces in her full length mirror. "Riku wanted me to tell you he has to cancel his plans for today. His mom is deeply sick and he needs to be with her right now."

"Oh…" Rikku face slumped down; she turned and looked up at the boy in front of her. "I hope she gets better Riku-Kun."

Riku looked away from Rikku's green eyes. He couldn't stand seeing the disappointment in her eyes. She walked away after staring at him a little while longer.

"Gee thanks Kai. You hurt her feelings."

"She's nothing but a jerk anyway. Prying at young men's hearts. You're much better than her." Kairi slammed her locker shut and decided she pay a little visit to her blue haired friend. "Now it's time for me to set little miss "I'm going to steal Sora away from you" straight."

"Oh boy…" Riku looked at Kairi as she walked towards her next class, P.E.

"Talia why won't you be able to hang out with us today?" Olette asked as she pulled up her knee high socks for gym.

"Because I'm hanging out with Sora." I tied my shoes up and closed my gym locker. Olette gave me a look that said "You're blowing us off for i_him/i_?" I nodded my head, responding to her look.

"Fine…but be careful. Kairi is out to get ya, you know." Olette frowned as she looked behind the lockers at the red head who was texting somebody on her blackberry phone. She was surrounded by her fan club. One of her fans were someone Olette didn't even know why she even liked Kairi. Her name was Naminé. Naminé is quiet, sweet, and shy. She was nothing like Kairi. And Kairi accepted Naminé as if she was her own sister. Guess opposites do attract huh?

"Poor Naminé. She has to hang out with that wanna be." Olette shivered.

"Olette, I can recall a time Kairi was all you could talk about." I smirked as we started to walk out the gym.

"That was before she set me up for that mean prank." Olette turned back around and glared at Kairi.

I laughed slightly. Olette was talking about that time Kairi had invited Olette to her birthday party. She was so excited her mom had to give her a sleeping pill just to make her go to sleep the night before. Then on the day of the party, Kairi asked Olette to do all of these things for her, like serve the drinks, the food. Olette barely got to play any of the party games. Then after the party everyone got a party bag which consisted of a cell phone, lip gloss, and a DVD of the party. But Olette got a tip of 10 dollars. And as soon as Olette was about to ask where's her bag, Kairi quoted "Thanks for the help. You're like my little servant. You should come back again and do my chores. I'll pay you 10 bucks a hour." Then she slammed the door in Olette's face.

Yeah, Olette never forgave Kairi since that day either.

"Well, Naminé should watch out…" Olette looked on the other side of the gym as the blonde looked around the gym shyly. She was standing next to Kairi and holding her hand. Kairi smiled and gave her a comforting squeeze. I shook my head and started doing some stretches.

"Okay today we're doing dodge ball. I'll be picking teams." Coach Larxene yelled.

"This should be good. You're most likely to be on my team Nami-Chan." Kairi smiled at her almost look alike.

Naminé smiled at Kairi and looked as the coach did the roll call.

"Okay. We'll be in groups of 5. Team 1 will consist of Olette, Talia, Paine, Yuna, and Naminé."

"What!?!?" Larxene turned around and arched a brow at Kairi. "Is there a problem Ms. Utada?"

"Eh, no sorry. It's just…I thought maybe Nami and I could be on the same team." Kairi smiled ever so sweetly.

Larxene smirked. "Oh yes! What a wonderful idea Kairi! And maybe then I can have my way too and go tell Marluxia that he is a gay faggot without losing my job!" Larxene's smirk turned into a frown.

I tried to hold my laughter in unlike almost everybody in the gym. Olette was holding her stomach because she was laughing so hard.

"Anyway, Team 2 will consist of Kairi, Selphie, Tifa, Aerith, and Lucrecia. You have a couple of minutes to discuss your game plan with your team members. And pick a captain."

My group and I went to over to the bleachers.

"I vote Talia for captain." Paine said without any emotion.

"Me too!" Olette smiled.

"Talia for the win!" Yuna smirked playfully at me.

"…Me too." Naminé gave me a shy smile. I gave her a warming smile and turned back to the rest of the team.

"Okay, I'm guessing the strongest player on their team is Tifa. So aim for her. Paine since you're our strongest, don't worry about Tifa, work on the rest, especially who ever their captain is. Olette you can catch, so if one of us gets out, catch it and bring them back in. Naminé and I will work on Tifa and Kairi."

Naminé gasped. I placed a reassuring hand on her hand. "Nami-Chan, it's just a game. If Kairi really loves you like a sister, she won't be mad if you get her out."

Naminé grinned at me and nodded her head.

"Ready?" I asked my team mates. They all nodded their heads and we walked to our placements on the gym floor.

"Okay Teams! On count of the whistle!"

Larxene made the number 5 and slowly putting one finger down at a time until she reached 1 and blew her ear piercing whistle. Everyone rushed for the ball. Olette got a red rubber ball and threw it at Kairi's arm. Kairi dodged it easily and returned to the attack to Olette. Like Kairi, Olette dodged it and slid across the floor to grab a hold of another ball.

Paine frowned as she hit Lucrecia on the arm. Lucrecia frowned and made over to the bleachers. Kairi frowned at Paine. She did some sort of hand signal to Tifa as she nodded her head in agreement. I blinked confused as I did the same with Paine. Paine blinked, not getting what hand signal I was doing. To tell you the truth, I didn't know what I was doing either. But I soon regretted it as Paine got his in the lower stomach. She cringed at the pain and limped over to bleachers.

Naminé looked at the ball right in front of her. She picked it up and nervously twirled it around. She glanced up at Aerith. Then the strangest thing happened. A devious look came to Naminé's bright blue eyes. She threw the ball with most force at Aerith. Aerith stumbled backwards as she was hit in the upper chest area. Aerith let out a dry cough as she went to the bleachers.

Naminé then looked at Aerith in horror. She didn't mean to hit her that hard. Honestly!

"Good job Naminé!" I smiled at her. My smile dropped again as Kairi hit Naminé in the arm. Tears filled Naminé's eyes as she walked towards the bleachers.

Olette jumped up and down as she hit Selphie in the leg. I picked up a ball and hit it over at Tifa. My ball missed but another ball came after mines and hit Tifa in the arm. Tifa gave Olette a warm smile that said "Good Job!"

Olette smirked at her but soon fell to her knees as she was hit in the stomach area. Kairi had hit her hard. Very hard. Olette crawled over to the bleachers as she gently rubbed her stomach.

Oh I looked up at Kairi. Kairi stood with one her hand on her hip and the other holding her ball. I picked up my ball and glared at her. She returned the look.

"Hm…looks like your time is up Kisaragi." Kairi got into a throwing position.

"Your time will be up before mines are up sweetie." I smirked and placed the ball perfectly in my hand. Kairi threw the ball. I dropped my ball. Everyone gasped. They couldn't believe it.

"Kisaragi bring back one team member!" Larxene shouted.

I smirked at Kairi. "Naminé."

Kairi gasped but then slowly smirked. She knew Naminé didn't have the guts to hit her best friend. Naminé made her way up next to me.

"But Talia…" she started to protest.

"Remember what I said about real friends. Trust me on this okay?" I smiled at her.

Naminé picked up the ball. Kairi did the same. They looked at each other.

"Naminé you don't have to do this sweetie. You don't want to hurt me do you? Your best friend? You don't have the guts do you Naminé?" Kairi smirked at her blonde friend.

"Kairi…you're like my sister. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you…" Kairi's smirk grew as Naminé dropped her ball. Kairi threw her ball straight at Naminé, but Naminé caught it and instantly threw the ball right back at Kairi and knocked Kairi to her knees. Our team screamed of joy and ran over to Naminé and attacked her in a hug.

"I knew you could do it!" I hugged the blonde. She blushed as she hugged me back.

She then let go and looked over at Kairi. Naminé walked over to her and held out a hand for her to grab. Kairi looked up at her. Kairi smiled at her and grabbed her hand and then pulled Naminé into a hug.

"Good game Nami-Chan. I always knew there was a devil somewhere deep inside you." Kairi smiled at her best friend.

"Maybe Kairi has a heart after all…" Olette crossed her arms and looked at Kairi and Naminé hug.

"Maybe to everyone else… except us." I frowned. I shook the thought from my head and walked to the locker room. I really needed a shower.

I flipped the channels on the TV, waiting for Sora to come. He was coming to pick me up.

"Er… hey Talia." Vincent came and sat down beside me.

"Vincent." I shrugged and continued to flip through channels.

"Talia I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

"Really? You're sorry about this morning?" Vincent got his hopes up.

"Oh, no. I thought you were talking about how you walked out on me and mom. In that case, I take my sorry back." I frowned.

"Talia! You don't understand! I had to go out and work. I came back to visit you and your mother! I love you two more than anything. I had to leave-"

"You didn't have to do anything! Work shouldn't be more important than your own damn family!"

"Talia!"

"No! Prove to me and mom you love us more than anything. Your brother was more of a dad than you were! That's why Yuffie and I are so close." I screamed at him.

"I give up," he got up from the couch and stomped up the stairs.

"Real fathers don't give up on their families!" I yelled. I couldn't take this anymore. I grabbed my house keys and walked out the door, slamming the door behind me.

I had no clue where I was going. Anywhere was better than going back there. I felt the tears threatening to spill any second now.

"Talia?" I looked up at the male's voice. I blinked to clear the tears from my eye sight. The figure started to take shape and turned into Sora. The tears rolled down my face.

"Talia what's wrong," he grabbed my shoulders and tried to search through my tear filled eyes. More tears ran down my face. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

He wiped my tears with his thumb and led me to a bench. He sat me down and took out a tissue and patted the tears away from my face. I got myself together.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" I looked down at the ground.

"Why were you crying?"

"My dad and I got into a fight…" I shivered at the memory. Plus it was getting dark out and the wind was starting to pick up.

"Did he hurt you?" Sora looked at me concerned.

"No…"

"Then what? You can tell me anything remember?"

"My dad walked out on me and my mom when I was real young. He came back to visit us sometimes but the he stopped. He would always miss out on important things in my life. Now he's back again to see me graduate from High School. But I don't want him here, I really dislike my father." I felt tears run down my face again followed by Sora wiping them away with his thumb.

"Talia…you should at least accept the fact that he actually came back to see you graduate. I don't know your father but he doesn't seem like a bad man. You should at least itry/i to accept him in your life." Sora gently rubbed my arm. I let my head fall onto his shoulder. He blushed slightly as he shifted uncomfortable.

"You're right…"

"I know."

I sat up and playfully punched him in the arm.

"Are you i_really/i_ okay now?" Sora grinned at me.

"Yup, it's kind of late. I should get home." I stood up and looked at the moon.

"See you tomorrow at school," he stood up with me and smiled down at me.

"Yeah. Our plan can officially start tomorrow too. And plus tomorrow is a better day since its Friday." I smiled at him.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow Tally-Chan."

"Tally-Chan?" I blinked up at him.

He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Oh sorry, that nickname seems to fit you."

"It's okay. It'll be your special nickname that _you_ can only call me." I made his blush deepen as I said that. I gave him a quick hug and walked down to the direction of Twilight Town.

i_Tally-Chan Hm? I love that name/i._


	6. Chapter 6

"Then he gave me this nickname." I smiled at my friends as the slowly nodded their heads in an understanding matter.

"So…you're hanging with him today I'm guessing?" Hayner stared at me.

"Yep. He's giving me a tour of Destiny Islands. I can't wait. I haven't been around the islands in such a long time." I smiled dreamily at my friends.

"Are you in love with him or something?" Roxas blinked at me.

That snapped me from my trance. "Get real Roxas. I only love Destiny Islands. Besides, I technically just met him."

"Love at first sight, duh." Pence stated.

"Nah. I don't love anyone at this current moment. Well I better go get ready. See you guys later." I smiled and hugged each one of them. They nodded their heads awkwardly at me. Of course I didn't notice. I waved good bye and skipped out of our little secret spot.

"I thought you hung out with her yesterday." Kairi crunched on a chip.

"No. She had to deal with family issues. So I'm taking her on a tour of Destiny Islands today." Sora glanced at his chip munching friend. Kairi abruptly looked at him.

"A tour? Of Destiny Islands? That's wonderful!" Kairi smirked. Her plan could finally go into action now.

Sora raised a brow at her. "How is that wonderful?"

"Well obviously Talia does not live in Destiny Islands. So it would be kind of you to give her a tour of Destiny Islands." Kairi smirked at Sora.

"I guess…" Sora was now curious. When Kairi smirked, that never was good. "So I should leave now."

"Okay sweetie, be careful." Kairi smiled at Sora.

"Yeah but before I go…" Kairi arched a brow at him. Sora smirked and quickly reached over Kairi and grabbed a handful of her chips. Kairi shrieked and pushed him off of her before quickly grabbing her bag of chips and checking to see if she still had any left.

"Sora you as-"

"Watch your mouth Kai." Sora laughed as he ran towards the docks, munching on Kairi's chips in delight. Kairi glared at her spiky haired ran as he ran off.

When she made sure he was out of seeing she got her phone out and flipped it open.

"What now Kairi?" An annoyed Riku said on the other end of the phone.

"Our plan begins tonight. Bring your water gun with you…" Kairi smirked as she hung up her phone.

Sora looked up at the tall house in front of him. The lawn was neatly mowed and was sprinkled with tiny drops of water. He nervously walked down the stoned pathway that led up to the front door. Sora nervously had rung the doorbell.

"Vincent get that!" Sora could hear the voice of a female on the other end of the door.

"Alana I'm busy! Why can't you get it?" Now a male voice was heard.

"You're so difficult…" Sora stiffened as he heard shoes click against the floor, slowly creeping to the door.

"Hi!" Sora looked up at a young…very young…woman. She had blue eyes with matching blue her hair. Her features looked gentle and soft. Her shoulder length hair curled around her shoulders. She wore a black skirt that stopped at the upper part of her knee, a yellow and white stripped short sleeve shirt that had a hood on the back of it. And some simple white flip flops. Sora could see where Talia got her good looks from.

"Hi! You must be Sora right? Talia will be right down sweetie. Feel free to come in." Mrs. Kisaragi stepped aside to let Sora. Sora grinned at her before nervously stepping in. He took a seat in an armchair not too far away from the door. Just in case…

"Hello." Sora looked up at a young man. He looked sort of a ninja. He had shaggy black hair, brown eyes with green swirls in them. He wore mostly black but had some beige pants on.

He guessed this was Talia's father. "Hello."

Vincent eyed Sora for a good while. Sora stiffened as he got the feeling that Vincent was staring him down. A small smile came to Vincent's face. He knew he could trust this boy with his i_only/i_ daughter. But still he has to set some limits for the kid.

"Okay listen up Zola-"

"Sora."

"That's what I said…" Vincent shifted his eyes as his ex wife came into the room. "My daughter is to be home by-"

"Tally doesn't have a bed time." Alana rolled her eyes at Vincent. Vincent shot her a look that said "But he doesn't know that."

"I'll have her home by 9?"

"Yeah. By 9! No later or it's off with your head!" Vincent slid a finger across his neck. Alana put her hands on her hips and looked at her over-reacting ex-husband.

"No trying any moves on my daughter either."

"I don't like Talia like that." LIE! Big humungous lie. He was practically in love with Talia Kisaragi.

But don't let her father know…

Vincent smiled broadly at Sora. He may get along well with this 18 year old. "And-"

"Stop." Everyone looked up over at the top of the steps. Talia stood there like an angel (In Sora's eye), her hand gently resting on the rail, her long blue hair flowing over her eyes. She wore a green t-shirt and jean shorts. She also wore some black converse shoes and a little traveling bag with her.

"Talia you look pretty! But then again… you are i_my/i_ daughter." Alana closed her eyes, slightly laughing a little at her own joke, with a smirk on her lips.

I walked down the stairs with a somewhat straight face on. Sora stood up and smiled at me. I responded by nodding my head slightly at him.

"Okay see you guys later…" I hugged my mom and kissed her gently on her cheek. I walked up to my dad and looked at him in his eyes. He shifted his eyes in a different direction from mines. I smiled slightly and punched him playfully in the arm.

"See ya later… i_dad/i_." I smiled at him. Vincent looked at me and gave off a goofy grin which caused me to giggle.

"Talia let me take a picture--"

"We really gotta go now Sora." I grabbed his hand, dragging him out the house, shutting the door behind us.

We walked until we reached the point where we about to cross over into Destiny Islands. Sora glanced at his hand that I was still holding. Of course I didn't notice, I was too busy thinking how we almost got caught up in my mom's "My baby girl is all grown up! I have to take a picture of her!" moment.

"Um… Talia?" Sora kept his eyes locked on our connected hands. I stopped and turned around to arch a brow at him.

"Yeah?"

"Er…I think you can let go now…" Sora shifted his eyes from me to our hands to tell me what he was talking about.

I quickly let go. "Oh sorry!"

"No problem," he grinned at me. I giggled at him.

"Where are we gonna go first?" I asked him once we were into Destiny Islands. He looked around then spotted the perfect place.

"We can go to that small island!" Sora pointed at a tiny island. From my point of view it just looked like a green blob with brown swirls in it.

"Okay." I smiled at him as we walked towards the docks.

"Really Kai… a water gun?" Riku frowned at his auburn hair friend.

"Yes! It's part of my diabolical plan. Now from the micro chip I planted on Sora's jacket sweater thing, I can hear exactly where they are going." Kairi smirked as she looked through her binoculars at the young friends.

"And why are we sitting on a tree?" Riku looked annoyed at his friend as she spied on his other friend.

"So I can get a better look at them, duh. Oh yes! They're going to that small island we go to." Kairi smiled. She would defiantly get her now.

Riku puffed out a cheek while slowly letting out the air. He then shifted uncomfortably on the tree.

"Keep still. This tree isn't that steady." Kairi stood up to see how far away they were from the docks so she could follow them without being noticed.

"Kai sit down. That's dangerous."

"No. I can take care of myself - ACK!"

Riku tried to hold laughter in as Kairi fell backwards and a thud was heard as she landed in some bushes. Riku looked down at her and smirked.

"I told you…"

"Just shut up and get down here…" Kairi groaned as she sat up slowly, rubbing one of her scratches she got from the branches sticking out of the bush.

Riku smiled as he leapt down from the tree, landing perfectly on his two feet. He grinned and offered a hand to Kairi. Kairi swatted away and pushed herself to her feet.

"This is stupid…" Pence complained as the hid behind a garbage can, spying on Talia and Sora.

"No it isn't. We just have to get Sora to mislead Talia somewhere so she can get mad at him and never talk to him again." Hayner smirked.

"Yeah, then Roxas can have her all to himself." Olette smiled dreamily at the thought of her two best friends actually dating each other.

"Well, I still think this is stupid. You i**can't/i** make somebody like another person." Pence lazily sat on the stained ground underneath him, plucking at a half eaten pizza.

Roxas, Olette, and Hayner turned their attention to him. "Watch us." They said in unison. Their voice mixed with a devious sound and an angelic sound.

"Okay move out! To the docks!" Hayner pointed at the sky like some sort of super hero.

They ran off with Pence walking slowly behind them.

I smiled at the small island as I stood on the docks. I was amazed at the little tree houses it had and the gorgeous waterfall flowing into a small looking pond. Then a bridge connected the bigger part of the island from…

"We call that Paopu Island." Sora explained to me. His eyes twinkled as I stared at the island in awe.

_iWait a minute/i_…

"Paopu Island? What's a Paopu?" I made a face at the island. That's a weird name to give a totally cute island like that.

"A Paopu is a star shaped fruit. That's the only place where it grows. But it's hard to get one without falling into the ocean a couple of times." Sora gently laughed as he remember the times he tried to get one for him and Kairi to share. When he liked her.

"Cool! I absolutely adore fruits of all kinds…" I smiled at the little curved tree that would make a perfect sitting place to watch the sunset.

"It also has a legend behind it…" Sora took a deep breath.

"Really? What is it?" I turned my attention away from the island to Sora. I couldn't help but notice his face was red, but then again he could be hot since the sun was shining directly on him.

"Well, they say when two people who care about each other deeply shares one, their destinies become intertwined, and if they ever are separated from each other they are destined to meet again." Sora blushed even harder.

"Aw, that's so romantic! Do you believe in it?" I smiled at him.

"I used to…"

"Now that you've told me, I believe in it too!" I really wanted to go to that island now. "Hey Sora?"

"Hm?"

"Have you ever tried to share it with anyone before?" I smirked at him and slightly nudged him in the arm.

"That's kind of personal don't you think?"

"Maybe…"

"Yup." Sora smiled as he started to walk towards the waterfall.

"When I was 12 I had the biggest crush on my cousin's fiancée." I took a deep breath and stared at the ground. Sora stopped in his tracks.

"What," he turned around and stared at me.

"I had a crush on my cousin's current fiancée when I was 12. That's a secret I've never told anyone before. Not even Olette." A blush appeared on my face.

Sora smiled at me. "Well since you told me that…"

"You're gonna tell me who you tried to share the Paopu fruit with?" I got my hopes up.

"Hm…nope!" Sora grinned at me.

"Meany…" I complained like a child who didn't get something they really wanted.

"It was Kairi…" Sora said quietly as he began to walk a tad bit faster towards the waterfall. I heard him and the biggest smirk came to my face.

"Did you say i_Kairi/i_?" I ran up to him, grabbing his arm so he wouldn't try to get away.

"Yes, for like several years I had a mega crush on Kairi. But then one day she told me she didn't feel the same way, so I decided to move on." He smiled sadly at me.

"Aw, you must have been heartbroken, admiring her from afar and her to just shoot you down like that." I looked at him sympathetically.

"It's no big deal…"

"Leon made me cry when he told me he only had eyes for Yuffie…" I blinked down, feeling the tears welling up in my eyes.

"Well, at least he said it nicely. Kairi yelled at me." Sora shivered, remembering how the red head was steaming from her head as she said words that cannot be repeated.

"That's okay. We don't need them anyway, right?" I grabbed his hand and sung it back and forth.

"I guess…" Sora's blush came back as he looked at our once again connected hands.

"Hey what's in there?" I pointed to a dark looking cave. Trees had grown over the entrance to block any view sight, but I could perfectly see it.

"Oh, Kairi, Riku, and I used to go in there. We call it the Secret Spot since no one knows about it. Wanna see it?"

"Is it dark in there?" I let go of his hand and fiddled with my own. I hated the dark more than anything.

"When you first enter, yeah, but then when you get fully in the sun shines through the little holes and stuff in the rocks. Wanna go in there?" Sora smiled at me.

"But…" I blinked nervously. Just the thought of being in the dark even for a minute, gave me the creeps.

"Come on Tally-Chan."

I don't know why, but when he said I suddenly felt confidence in myself.

"Do you want me to hold your hand?" Sora teased me. I didn't know he was teasing me as I quickly put up my hand for him to hold. Sora blinked at my hand.

"Talia I was just kidd-"

"I don't care…" I grabbed his hand and grinned at him. Sora gave me a nervous smile as we started to walk through the trees.

"Kairi…"

"Shut up! Their going in our Secret Spot." Kairi glared as she watch the two hold hands and make their way through the trees that blocked the entry.

"Kairi how are we gonna catch Talia now? If we go in there we will be caught." Riku pointed out. Kairi rolled her eyes and turned to Riku.

"Riku how many times do I have to recite the plan to you, huh? When they come out, we'll spray Talia with water, and most likely Sora laugh and she will get mad." Kairi smirked.

"Your plan changes every time you explain it. Same concept, different plot."

"Just shut up!"

"Whatever you say princess." Kairi smacked Riku upside his head with her water gun. "I said i_shut up/i_."

"Okay so Olette you're gonna pretend you wandered here because you fell down the stairs and just happened to follow Talia and Sora here."

"Okay even I know that sounds stupid Hayner." Olette looked at Hayner with a slight glare.

"Well do you have anything better?"

"Talia loves animals. Why don't you guys make an animal making a sound for a cry for help? That would distract her from Sora and wander off…" Roxas suggested.

"Nah, she wouldn't be mad at Sora then. We'd have to do something to get Sora to wander off from her." Olette said. "Sora cares for everybody, so let's pretend a little girl needs help, and make sure Sora only here's her."

"I like her idea, what about you Pence?" Roxas turned to the chubby kid who was munching on sea salt ice cream.

"Huh what?"

"Oh never mind, Olette you can be the little girl." Hayner smiled at her. Olette glared before letting out a sigh.

"Fine…"

I was amused at all the drawings in this small cave. Drawing off all sorts covered the walls, pictures of tigers and other animals, games like tic-tac-toe and other little kid games. I ran my hand down the wall looking at all the pictures, looking at every corner there was. Sora smiled gently as he watched me look at all his childhood drawings.

"Aw! This is so kawaii." I bent down to take a good look of a picture of a girl with short hair and a boy with spiky hair. The boy's picture looked more neatly drawn than the girl's but it was still good. The boy had a hand with a star in it going towards the girl. And the girl had a better drawn hand and star going back towards the boy.

Sora quickly ran up to me, as he knew just exactly what I was talking about.

"Who's this girl suppose to be Sora? Hm?" I smirked at the boy who was now blushing. Sora shrugged, pretending he didn't know.

"It looks sort of like Kairi to me… and I think a Paopu fruit is going from you to her. As if you're giving it to her." My smirk increased. Sora shook his head at me.

"And it also looks like she's returning it…"

"What?!?" Sora bended down next to me and stared at the picture. A smile came to his lips as he witnessed for himself the drawing. I turned to him and smiled, he didn't notice me staring at him.

_iSora has pretty eyes./i_

I smiled at my thought. The boy did have pretty eyes. His cerulean blue eyes sort of matched his personality. I quickly turned away when I saw Sora stiffen. I guess he felt like someone was watching him.

"I guess Kairi did like you after all, eh?" I smiled at the picture before me. Kairi and Sora would make a cute couple.

"Yeah, I guess…"

"How come you don't seem too thrilled?" I arched a brow at him. Sora's blush came back.

"Well…I sort of like someone else now…" Sora smiled as a certain girl with blue hair flashed though his mind.

"Really? Aw, who is it? I mean you don't have to tell me…" I smiled at him.

_iBut I really would like to know though Sora…/i_

"I'll tell you some other time…" Sora couldn't tell Talia that she was the girl he had fallen in love with over the last couple of days.

"Okay." I smiled an understanding smile. Why would you tell a person you recently met the person you currently like?

I walked up to a blank spot on the wall and picked up a rock a started to carve a picture of me and Sora. I carved me smiling shyly and Sora grinning while we were holding friends. Then under it I wrote "Sora and Tally, Friends 4 ever."

Sora peeked over my shoulder and smiled at the picture. He had to admit, I was a good drawer. I turned around came uncomfortably low to his face. My breathing suddenly stop as I looked at him, we stayed in that position until we came back to our senses and quickly backed away from each other.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else now…" Sora quickly said. I nodded in agreement.

_iWas I about to kiss him? But I don't like Sora like that…/i_

"Here they come! Get ready." Kairi pointed her gun at Talia, Riku copied her moves. Just as Kairi was about to press the button to release the water, an old lady called out to her and Riku.

"Excuse me dears… have you seen my glasses?" Kairi cursed under her breath as she turned around and threw a quick smile to the old lady. She put her gun away and walked up to the lady. And why was this old lady at this part of Destiny Islands this late anyway?

"Ma'am your glasses are on your face…" Kairi tried to sound sweet, but she knew she utterly failed.

"No dear, you must be blind. My glasses are clearly not on my face. That's why I need help finding them." The lady smiled and pushed her glasses up on her face. Riku snorted to keep from laughing as Kairi mentally slapped her self.

"Listen grandma, maybe you are tired. It's almost sunset, shouldn't you be in bed?" Kairi smiled at her.

"Well shouldn't you be helping me find my glasses?" The old lady asked Kairi.

"The damn glasses are on your face woman!" Kairi was now getting irritated at the elderly woman.

"Tch, you have no respect for your elders. You should be ashamed of yourself. What would your mother say?"

"She would say the same thing! You obviously need new glasses, I mean come on!" Kairi said, her left eye twitching uncontrollably.

Riku smiled as he looked on the ground, pretending to find the lady's glasses. He secretly snuck up behind the lady and removed her glasses. The lady and Kairi were fussing too much to notice. He then stood in between the woman and Kairi.

"Here you are Madame, excuse my friend. She hasn't taken her medicine yet." Riku apologized to the woman.

"Thank you sweetie…" The woman happily took her glasses and went about her business.

"Thanks Ri-Ri…" Kairi let out a sigh and went back to aiming. "Shoot! They're gone!"

"Oh well…" Riku was sort of happy he didn't have to ruin Sora's "date."

"They will go out again, and when they do, I'll be there to tear them apart." Kairi had an evil grin on her face, murmuring evil things in Japanese so Riku wouldn't understand her.

"I'm half Japanese Kai. I know what you're saying…"

"Whatever, let's just go home." Kairi grabbed the silverette's hand and dragged him to the docks.

"Ready Olette?" Hayner asked through the walkie-talkie he carried along with him.

"Yeah…"

"Here they come, start now!"

Olette got on her knees and pulled down the dress she had on to cover her knees so it would look like she was on her feet. She slowly began to whimper and cry out help.

Sora walked beside Talia. He didn't dare say anything to her as she looked like she was in deep thought. Sora stopped in his tracks when he heard whimpering of some sort, Talia didn't notice that he stopped as she still walked onwards to Paopu Island. Sora looked from Talia to the sound where he heard whimpering.

_iMaybe I should check it out./i_

As I was walking I heard the sound of giggles and the sound a walkie-talkie makes when someone speaks through it. All crackly like. I walked more towards the sound, not noticing that Sora was long gone.

"Sora is so gullible." Hayner held is stomach. Pence cough and smiled up at the girl in front of him. I smiled and nodded my head at him.

"Oh really Hayner? How is he gullible?" I stood with my hands on my hips.

"Because he…fell…for our trick…" Hayner nervously looked up at the glaring blue head girl. He left out a dry laugh and stood up. Roxas hid behind him as Pence desperately tried to hold his laughter in.

"Hey Talia! How's it going?"

"Why are you trying to ruin mine and Sora's outing, Hm Hayner and Roxas?" I arched a brow at them.

"What about Pence?"

"Pence looks like an innocent angel, unlike you two." I smirked. "Now please leave us alone, and help me find my way back to Sora. Now." I said sharply which made them jump a little.

"Fine…" they both got up and led me back towards Sora.

"Sorry about my friends…" I let out a sigh as we got closer to the front of my house.

"No problem. My friends would have probably done the same thing," he grinned at me.

I giggled slightly. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Taking me on a tour of Destiny Islands…" I blushed slightly.

"Oh that? That was nothing, really." Sora smiled at me.

"And… for being my friend." I smiled up at him. He blushed slightly.

"You're welcome." Sora grinned.

"Can you hear anything?"

"Sh Alana! I can't hear them."

I rolled my eyes as Sora laughed slightly. I kicked the door hard followed by the sounds of groans coming from the door.

"I think she heard us…"

"You don't say."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Anyway, see you later Sora."

He nodded at me. I shifted my eyes quickly as I gave him a friendly hug. Sora blushed as he hugged me back then let go.

I waved to him and went inside my house and stared at my noisy parents.

"Ever spy on me again, and I'll hurt." I playfully threatened my parents.

"Yes Talia." They said in unison. I smiled at them and walked up to my bedroom. I was tired as I don't know what! But one thing I'm sure of is that…

…I had the time of my life with Sora. Maybe this plan of being friends with Sora to make Kairi jealous would turn out me i_really/i_ being friends with Sora.


	7. Chapter 7

For the first time in a long time I woke up with a smile on my face. I sat up and made my bed and laid my clothes out for the day. A simple sleeveless red tank top and black shorts with white flip flops. I practically hopped in the shower and was out quicker than you can say monopoly 10 times. I quietly tip toed down the stairs, careful not to wake my sleeping mother up. She thought it would be nice to give my dad her room and her sleep on the couch. I don't know why she didn't give him the guest room. But then again, I don't know why my mother does a lot of things.

Creeping into the kitchen, I opened the fridge and grab a juice pack of orange juice and cereal bar.

"Tally…" My mom dragged her feet over to me. "Where are you going this early?"

"It's 11, mom. Almost the afternoon actually. I'm heading to hang with Roxas and the guys. I'll be back later." I gulped down the juice and started munching on the cereal bar.

"I thought you had to work today," she poured some water into the coffee machine and then added the coffee grinds.

"Nah, I gotta work tomorrow though." I wrinkled my nose as I remember how I have to spend almost an entire Sunday working at the Library of TT (Twilight Town).

I grabbed my phone and house keys off the counter and quickly kissed my mother good bye then slammed the door shut as I left out.

The sun was already brightly shining, blinding me from any possible sight. As my eyes adjusted, I started to walk to my friends and mine's Usual Spot as we called it. I decided to take a short cut through the Sandlot. Seifer and his gang were never up this early.

"Well well well, if it isn't my ex." That strong voice sent chills down my spine. "Still looking as sexy as ever I see Talia."

I zoomed around and glared at him. "Still being flirtatious as ever I see."

"Only with you baby." Seifer snaked his hands around my waist. I tried to pull away.

"What happened between us Talia? Hm?" Seifer buried his head in my neck.

_I'm not gonna let him get to me. I'm just not._

"You used me…" I managed to say.

"I'm sorry baby. But everyone deserves a second chance…right," he slowly started to kiss my neck line. I really wanted to get away from him right now. I gasped as he quickly moved from my neck to my lips, capturing me in a surprise kiss. I was too shock to do anything. I couldn't close my eyes, kiss back, nothing.

_Tally-Chan._

That voice… his voice… echoed through my head. I came to my senses and pulled away from Seifer.

"I'm sorry…" I looked down at the ground.

"Talia, you still want me. I know deep down you do."

"Seifer, you lost me. You can't win me back. I've moved on…" I suddenly felt awkward. Exactly who did I move on to?

"Who?"

"I don't know… but I gotta go. Can't keep my friends waiting can I?" I quickly dashed off.

Seifer turned around and watched me run off. A frown came to his face.

"You okay man, y'know?" Rai came up to Seifer and placed a comforting hand on Seifer's shoulder. Seifer laughed slightly.

"I know that look Talia gave me when I asked was it someone else. She's having mixed feelings towards somebody…" Seifer then smirked. "And it's my job to keep that loser away from my girl."

Fuu looked down at Vivi who just shrugged. They defiantly knew where this was leading to.

"Sorry I'm late guys. Ran into…Seifer." I stuck my tongue out in disgust.

"No problem sweetie." Olette held out an ice cream bar for me. I smiled as I instantly noticed the frozen treat. It was my favorite, sea salt ice cream.

I licked it happily as I took a seat next to Olette.

"What are we doing today?" Hayner spoke up. Pence was too busy of attacking the ice cream bar to care about what Hayner was saying.

"I don't know. What about that new movie that just came out?" Roxas said.

"That Twilight movie?" Hayner blinked.

"That came out last year dummy." I gave Hayner a "do you even watch television?" look.

"I was actually talking about that Friday the 13th movie."

"No! My mom went to see that. She didn't want to get to descriptive with me so all she said from basically from beginning to middle was all skin and touching…" Olette shivered.

"Well then what?"

_Simple and Clean is the way -_

_That you're making me feel tonight._

"Oops…" I reached in my pocket for my yellow and blue phone. I blinked at the number. Who in the world was this? "Er…hello?"

I smiled warmly as I heard the voice on the other end. Olette exchanged glances at Hayner and Roxas. They returned the look. They knew exactly who I was talking to.

"Okay." I nodded my head, even though I perfectly knew Sora couldn't see me.

"What does he want?" Hayner said through gritted teeth as I hung up my phone. I glanced up at him.

"We're going to the movies the movies tomorrow after I get back from work." I smiled happily at them.

"Wow. Looks like things are getting serious with you two." Olette had a disappointed face on.

"Ew no. He's just my friend that I'm trying to get to know better. I'm not in love with him…" My eyes shifted over to Roxas and I smirked. "Don't worry Roxas, there's still some hope I could like you."

Roxas blushed big time. "That's good to know…" he muttered quietly to himself so I didn't hear him.

"Well movies are out of the question. What about we go to Destiny Islands, they have events going on there almost every day since summer started." Pence said. "And they have this yummy ice cream treat called Paopu Delight."

"Paopu?" Olette blinked. "What in the world is a Paopu?"

"Oh! Sora told me what it was yesterday." I grinned as I reminisced the event from yesterday. "It's a legendary fruit that is shaped like a star. And when two lovers share one their destinies become intertwined for eternity! And if they are ever separated, their destined to meet again or something like that."

"That is so romantic…let's go to Destiny Islands then." Olette's eyes glimmered

The boys groaned at Olette. I giggled as Olette started to fuss at them.

"Okay gosh, we'll go." Hayner stated, tired of Olette's nagging. "But you do know to get in those event things, we have to have a pass or show that we are residence of there don't you?"

"I have my school pass." I looked in my other pocket and pulled out my identification card.

"That's nice to know. But have you considered that we don't?" Hayner slightly glared at my card. I gasped and shoved it back in my pocket, just in case he got any ideas.

"I have a picture on my phone to show Roxas and I am a part of Destiny High." Pence took out his phone and showed us a picture of the boys standing outside of the school. Roxas was smiling sleepily and Pence held a Destiny High t-shirt in front of him that said "Official Student of Destiny High."

"Great, that just leaves Olette and me."

"Actually… I have my I.D. card too Hayner…" Olette shifted her eyes away from the glaring blonde. He walked up to her, mere inches away from her face, glaring.

"Aw look, they're about to kiss." Pence cooed. Hayner blinked then jumped away from Olette as her face flushed.

"You guys can go; I'll stay here and catch up on some homework." Hayner sighed.

"Aw, Hayner you have to have something to prove you are a student of Destiny High. What about your Destiny High Keyblade pin thing. Remember? The one you got for being on the debate team?" I asked him. His face instantly brightened up.

"Oh yeah! You guys go ahead while I run home to get it. I'll meet ya there." Hayner grabbed his small backpack and ran from the usual spot.

"Okay, let's go." Olette started to walk behind the red curtains, Pence, Roxas, and I following behind her.

Destiny Islands busy today! People and their families and friends were seen every corner you look. Destiny Islands must have been having something HUGE today.

Olette and I were almost there to the event they were having. Roxas and Pence were not really far behind, but far enough.

"Oh my gosh! It looks like some sort of water convention!" Olette exclaimed excitedly.

"And look! I think that's some water slides," I looked up at these multi-color tubes that were high in the air and twirled and dipped down to, what I'm guessing, a pool.

"Did we pick a right Saturday to come here or what?" Olette smiled.

"We don't have our bathing suits…"

"I'm sure they have little stands inside to buy them." Olette said as we waited in the long line of people.

"Yo, what's this supposed to be?" Pence looked past us as him and Roxas caught up to us. All he could see was people drinking water from cups from different little stands.

"A water convention."

Roxas and Pence glanced at each other before looking back at us. "No."

"Aw come on guys!" Olette complained.

"I don't wanna go to a convention where all we do is taste fruit punch flavored water." Roxas said.

"No, they have water slides too!" I quickly said.

The boys groaned again. "Fine…"

"Yay!" Olette and I jumped up and down and grabbed their arms and started repeating "Thank you" over and over again.

"I-I'm h-here!" Hayne hovered over his knees. We blinked at the boy who was trying to catch his breath.

"Get your pin?"

"Even better," he held up his I.D. card.

"Perfect!" I clapped my hands happily.

It wasn't long until we got to the check stand. The security guard eyed us a little too closely.

"Pass?" He said sternly.

We all held up our I.D. passes (except Pence and Roxas who showed their picture). The guard rudely snatched the picture and I.D. cards from our hands.

"Jeez, rude much?" Olette whispered over to me. I nodded my head quickly.

"Do you have something you'd like to share little girls?" The guard looked over at us.

Olette was mad then. That's one thing Olette hates, when people call her a little girl.

"Okay listen fatso," Olette started. Pence, Roxas, and Hayner snapped their attention to her. "I'm an 18 year old almost High School graduate. So I'm not a fucking little girl! And I don't appreciate the way you snatched our property from us. Now, it's obvious you can see we have SOME sort of relation to Destiny Islands. So just let us in damn it!"

The security blinked at her. Then his lip slowly started to quiver and he gently gave us back our things.

"S-sorry Miss. Please go in and enjoy yourselves," he stepped aside. We all could all see that he was about to cry.

What a wimp.

"You're so mean Olette. Making a grown man cry!" Hayner laughed.

"He shouldn't have called me a little girl…" Olette grumbled.

"It's okay Olette; we're in so let's just have fun." I put a comforting arm around her shoulder. She nodded her head in agreement.

"Oh my gosh, look over there! Strawberry flavored water!" Pence pointed at a booth.

"Wow…" Roxas said, not really interested.

"I'm gonna go try some!" And with that, Pence ran off towards the stand.

"Strawberry water? Look there, that's kiwi water. Talk about yummy." Hayner grinned.

"Ew… kiwi water." I stuck out my tongue out in disgust.

"Well you don't have to try it! C'mon Roxas." Hayner roughly grabbed Roxas's arm and dragged him off towards the stand.

"Good luck Roxas!" I called after them before turning around and giggling with Olette.

"Looks like it's just us, eh Olette? …Olette?" I turned around to find my friend gone. I spotted her over at an orange flavored water stand.

Great.

It's just me now.

"Um… excuse me?"

I looked behind me and blinked at the girl in front of me. It was Naminé. My frown instantly turned into a grin at the girl. Naminé blinked at me, confused.

"Hi Naminé!" I grinned at the pale and fragile girl.

She smiled sweetly at me. "Talia nice to see you."

"Who are you here with?"

"Well, I was here with Kairi but she went off to get a bathing suit for the water rides. I don't really wanna go on them, so I left."

I nodded my head at her in an understanding matter. Naminé let out a sigh.

"You can hang out with me. I was gonna go on the waterslides but my friends all ditched me." I smiled at her.

"Thanks… but I don't know what else we could do here but taste water," she frowned. I nodded my head glumly.

This convention wasn't turning out right for me.

"Oh forget it; let's just go on some rides." Naminé grabbed my hand and dragged me off to a shop that sold bathing suits.

Naminé and I had a great time on the waterslides. We went on almost all of them together. We were on them almost all day, only stopping to grab something to eat. The only thing they had to eat here were some chips and dip and flavored water, so Naminé and I shared a bag and each got our on flavored water from one of the stands.

I got grape flavored water while Nami got watermelon. We gave each other a sample of our water, and surprisingly it was good. After a few more hours in the water, we decided to go attempt to find our friends so we could go home.

"Talia there you are! We were looking for you!" I turned around and saw Olette, Hayner, Pence, and Roxas.

I looked at Roxas who was carrying several bags and a huge grin on his face.

"Hey Talia! You need to try this water! It's awesome! I love it! I got 12 bottles of each flavor to go! Isn't that great?!?" Roxas grinned at me and slightly bouncing up and down a little.

"What's up with him?"

"Too much water." Hayner shook his head.

"That's nice Roxas. Let's go home guys!" I said to them.

"Yes please, I'm exhausted." Olette let out a sigh.

"Bye Naminé!" I gave her a quick and followed behind my friends.

When I got home, I went to straight to bed. I was going to wake up early the next morning anyway to go to work. Then I have an outing with Sora. Gee, my Sunday is all planned out for me, isn't it?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So… they're going out again tomorrow huh?"

"I'm not getting tangled up with your plan this time Kairi…" Riku sighed.

"C'mon Ri-Ri! Please!" Kairi whined at her friend.

"Fine… but call me Ri-Ri again and I'll kick your ass." Riku frowned.

"Can't hit girls." Kairi reminded him.

"I know. So that's why I'll just spread a rumor around school that you have a mustache that you shave off every three weeks."

Kairi gasped.

"Fine… but let's be sure not to fail this time!"

Kairi just had to break them up. And she won't rest until she has!


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up the next morning around 5:30am. Working for the library meant you had to get to work early and arrange the books and straighten up the check-out desk before it officially opened. One of the good things about working in the library is that you didn't have to wear uniforms. Any worker could wear anything as long as it was appropriate. So, taking advantage of that rule, I wore a yellow (If you haven't noticed, yellow is my favorite color) tank top with a sleeveless white vest over it, a mini jean skirt, and some black flats.

"Good morning Talia, where are you going so early?" My dad greeted me as I made the final step downstairs.

"To work." I replied and grabbed my house keys and white purse off the chestnut table lamp.

"Oh. When will you be back?"

"Well my shift ends at 2 but then I'm going to the movies with a friend."

"That's nice. Well I hope you have a nice day at work."

"Thanks."

And with that I was out the door, heading to Twilight Town Library.

~*~*~*~*~~*~

At work I saw my crazy co-worker, Melanie, standing on a ladder with headphones in her ears and putting away random books.

"5. 5. 5 dollar. 5 dollar foot long!!" I tried so hard not to laugh. No, it wasn't that she wasn't a great singer (that girl has an awesome voice) it was the song she was singing.

"Melanie…" I giggled up to her.

"Subway eat fresh!"

"Melanie…"

"Now at Subway get a foot long sub for 5 dollars. 5. 5. 5 dollar. 5 dollar foot long," she continued to sing.

"Melanie!" I yelled, fed up with her horrible song.

Melanie jumped a little and immediately took the headphones out of her ears.

"Oh, hey Tal. Didn't see you there." Melanie smiled at me.

"What were you singing?"

"Oh that, I saw it off a Subway commercial and downloaded it to my IPod."

"Oh wow Mellie," I giggled.

She just grinned at me and went back to putting books away. Melanie is a year older than me, but if you looked at her, you'd think she's a 14 year old girl instead of a 19 year one. She's a pure tomboy. I've only seen her wear shorts, capri's, jeans, tank tops, and hats worn backwards only. Her clothes were really baggy too. Today she is wearing a blue t-shirt with black shorts on and white sneakers with yellow lighting stripes on them.

"What are you doing to do after work?" I already knew the answer, but I still asked her.

"Actually I'm going on a date."

I blinked at her. I've known Melanie since I started working here 4 months ago, and she never had a date before (as far as I knew). Usually, after work she'd go home grab her skateboard and head to the skate park they had not too far from the Sandlot.

"With whom?"

"This guy named Zack Fair. I met him in class last week, or more like, he tripped over me while I was tying my shoes."

_Hm… why does that sound so… familiar?_

"And?" I arched a brow.

"And what," she blinked at me, obviously not knowing what I was talking about.

"Is he cute or what?"

"Oh! He has spiky brown hair, blue eyes you can easily get lost in. A smile that would make your heart melt!"

_Hey… doesn't that sound a lot like…_

"Sora…" I quietly said to myself.

"Who?" Melanie looked at me.

"Nothing…" I smiled at her.

"Uh-huh, who is this Sora? Could he be," she gasped "a special someone?"

"Nah, he's just my friend. It's just the way you explained Zack sounds exactly like Sora… even down to the part how you two met."

"Oh wow. Did you kiss yours yet? Oh wait, you probably haven't, he's your friend," she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Besides I think he has a thing about his friend who is a total pain in the ass." I growled, thinking about a certain redhead (No not Melanie).

"What? She's annoying or something?"

"Let's just say she's done some things to me… like threaten me and stuff. But she can't do anything. I have Roxas and Hayner." I smirked.

Melanie knew Roxas and Hayner. She met them at the Struggle thing last year. In fact, she competed against Roxas… and lost. Ha.

"Speaking of Roxas… how are you two doing?"

"Melanie! We're just friends, nothing more."

"Yeah, because Sora took his place," she laughed and climbed down from the ladder. "Anyway, so you're graduating High School next Saturday, eh? Where's my invitation?"

"They're passing the invitations out this week. I think Tuesday." I walked with her back to the check out desks.

"Okay. I can't wait to see you walk across that stage! I'm gonna cry. By the way, where are you going to college?? Twilight University? We could be roommates!" Melanie eyes glistened.

"Nah, I already got accepted into Atlantica State University," I grinned. Atlantica was where my mom was born, and my grandmother lives there. Plus, their college is the best in the world.

"Oh, fancy much? Ha, I heard they have the best beaches and vacation spots."

"They do. I remember going to this amusement park that took this one huge spot that look like it could fit a metropolis. I hope it's still there."

"What are you majoring in?"

"Biology."

"Oh, gonna be a doctor?" Melanie looked over at me.

"Trying to be…" I let out a sigh.

"Make sure when I make an appointment I won't have to pay," she winked at me.

"Of course!"

We both laughed and decided to get to work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I walked by myself to the movie theatre. Sora and I were gonna meet up there.

Hm, I wonder what we were gonna see. Hopefully not a chick flick, I absolutely loath those type of movies. I wonder what Melanie is doing right now. Probably making out with her boyfriend. Isn't it funny… the way she described Zack sounds just like Sora and I?

Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not.

I stopped my thoughts and looked up in front of me at the movie theatre. No, the movie theatre isn't what caught my attention; it was the screaming girls in a large circle.

Ignoring the girls, I looked around for Sora. I didn't see the spiky brunette anywhere. I let out a sigh. He hasn't shown up yet. I decided to take a seat on the bench and wait for him.

10 minutes passed and no sign of Sora yet.

"He better not has stood me up…" I said quietly to myself. But then again, Sora wouldn't do that. Would he…?

Going against my first thought, I took out my cell and dialed his number. It rung a few minutes. I looked over at the screaming girls as they suddenly stopped.

"Hi-"

"Sora? Where are you?"

"This is Sora here! I can't get to my phone right now…" I heard his voicemail.

"Most likely he lost it!" I heard a female's voice.

"Shut up Kairi! Anyway, leave a number and message… and I'll try to call you back."

"Only if he doesn't forget!"

"Kairi…" I giggled as I heard the voice message end.

Sora and Kairi sure are cute together. No matter how much I despise Kairi, I think her and Sora would make a cute couple.

I heard the beep noise on the other end, signaling me to leave my message.

"Hey…Sora…where are you? Are you okay? I'm here… so yeah. Call back. And if you forgot my number like Kairi says on your voice mail, its 798-2056."

I closed my flip phone and turned my head back to the once again screaming girls. Whoever was in the middle of that group, I sure do feel sorry for him or her.

I arched a brow as they stopped again. My phone rung and I looked at the number. Sora… of course.

"Hello?"

"Talia! Help me!" Sora cried desperately on the other end.

"With what? Where are you?"

"I'm here, but I'm surrounded by my… my…"

"You're what?" I blinked, obviously confused.

"Fan girls!"

I was silent a minute. Sora kept repeating hello over and over again.

"Aw look who has a fan club!" I cooed on the other end.

"S-shut up!"

"Aw he's blushing!" I looked over at the sighing group of girls. I smirked.

"Okay, no problem, I'll help you." I smiled.

"Thank you!"

I hung up my phone and went over to the crowd of screaming girls. Let's see… how to get rid of tons of crazy fan girls… hm. I know. I smirked.

"Um… excuse me; is the guy in there named Sora?" I asked sweetly.

"Yeah," A girl turned around and grinned at me.

My left eye twitched as I saw her attire. She wore a purple t-shirt with a picture of Sora on it, some shorts and flip flops. I nodded my head awkwardly.

"Hm… you do know… I'm dating him right?" I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned at the girl.

"Oh really? Sorry! GIRLS SORA IS NO LONGER SINGLE," She screamed over the other girls.

All at once they stopped screaming, blinked, and started to break off from the pile one by one.

"There you go… hey… aren't you that nerd at school? Ralia or Tarantula or something?"

"Talia yeah. Nice to meet you…"

"Think you can tutor me in Spanish?"

"No. Adios."

"What," she blinked at me.

"Just leave."

She nodded her head and left without another word. I smirked and walked up to Sora.

"You're welcome!" I giggled at him as he was still in the state of shock.

"I never wanna see another girl again…" Sora muttered.

"Oh really? I'll just leave then!" I faked a frown and slowly turned around and acted like I was about to leave.

Sora snapped out of his shock just in time to grab my arm. I winced at the electric shock that sent chills down my spine.

"Not you Tally-Chan! I meant those fan girls, not you!" Sora explained quickly.

"Calm down. I wasn't going to leave." I said and started walking towards the door of the movie theatre.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ah, we return to ruin Talia's life!" Pence announce sarcastically.

"Shut up," Hayner hisses at him.

"Okay, so we all know Tal hates chick flicks right? Okay, we need to find a costume, distract the ticket booth guy and sell them a chick flick ticket!"

"Yeah okay and how are we supposed to trick the ticket booth guy?" Pence asked.

"Let me handle this," Olette smirked.

Olette walked up to the ticket booth guy and put on a sexy look.

"Excuse me…" she said in a seductive voice.

The ticket guy behind the counter started shaking uncontrollably and beads of sweat were forming on his head.

"C-can I help you," he asked nervously.

"I was wondering… you know… if you could escort me to the correct theatre I'm supposed to go to. I got lost and I need a strong man like you to help me," Olette flipped her brown locks and smiled at the guy.

And with that the guy and Olette walked together to the small hallway which held several theatres.

Hayner watched the whole scene and was sort of growling.

"Aw, is Hayner jealous?"" Roxas cooed.

"Hell no! I know Olette is acting. S-she is just acting right?"

"I dunno that look she gave the guy. She looked like she _really_ wanted him to escort her." Pence teased.

"Shut up!"

"Okay guys focus. Now we gotta steal a uniform."

"Already covered," Hayner held up a uniform and a blonde mustache. He smirked and shoved them at Roxas.

"What? Not me!"

"Yes you!"

"Uh… guys, we have to go. I think I see Talia and Sora coming." Pence pointed at the friends.

Hayner pushed Roxas towards the men's room and him and Pence fled from the scene.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Kairi… what are we doing this time?" Riku groaned.

"This time we're gonna lock Talia in the bathroom! Every girl with a right mind goes to the bathroom to fix her make-up at least once!"

"Talia doesn't wear make-up, I don't think."

"Well she'll go to the bathroom. Trust me," Kairi smirked.

"Last time I did that, Sora and I ended up with the flu and missed school for 2 weeks."

"Oh shut up!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm gonna get the tickets, okay Talia? …Talia?"

Sora turned around and found the blue headed girl staring at the candy counter. Her eyes were big as saucers. Sora laughed slightly.

"Must… get… popcorn…" I muttered.

I blinked when Sora had his hand out with money in it. Shaking my head, I pushed his hand away.

"I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Yup…" I faked a smile.

I went back to fantasying about a large popcorn with melted butter and oh my gosh I want some. Sora put the money gently into my hands and shoved me off to the candy counter.

"But… I…"

"Talia I suggest you go get it before I change my mind," Sora grinned at me.

That's all he had to say and I walked quickly over to the candy stand.

Sora laughed and turned back around to the ticket booth.

"Two tickets to The Proposal please." Sora told the guy.

The ticket guy turned around and grinned at Sora. Sora tilted his head slightly. This guy looked so… familiar. He had blonde hair covered by a red hat, a funny looking blonde mustache.

"Okay so 2 tickets to Up," The ticket guy had a… weird accent.

"Uh… no. I want 2 tickets to The Proposal."

"2 tickets for Up! That'll be 5 dollar."

"Listen… I don't know what country you come from… but I want 2 tickets for The Proposal not Up." Sora said once more.

"What's going on?"

Sora turned around to see me standing next to him with a cup of popcorn in my arm.

"I keep telling this guy I want tickets to The Proposal and not Up. He doesn't seem to understand."

"Two tickets for Up," The ticket guy said again.

I examined the guy with the funny mustache. His blonde hair… the sound of his voice. My eyes widened before frowning at the guy. I placed my empty hand on my hip and gave the guy a death glare.

He instantly got nervous. "Two tickets for The Proposal! Gotcha! Free of charge too!"

Sora looked at the now smiling Talia. What she do? Talk to him through his head or something?

"Enjoy the movie," the guy gave Sora the tickets.

I looked past me as Sora didn't notice me beside him. I walked up to the booth and glared at Roxas.

"I'll deal with you later," I looked at his nametag and smirked. "Lillian."

Roxas gasped. No wonder this uniform didn't fit right!

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Okay Riku, their going into the movie. Let's hide behind the trash can and wait for Talia to come out."

"A trash can? Oh hell no. I'll hide behind Rikku," Riku smirked as he spotted the blonde girl.

"Listen, I heard Rikku said that you're a jerk. She said she'd never date you."

Riku felt his heart break into a thousand pieces. No, not what lies Kairi said. He saw a guy walk up to Riku and kiss her cheek and she blushed. Rikku is Riku's girl!

"I hate you Kairi…"

Kairi smiled brightly and dragged Riku behind the trash can.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sora and I got seats at the second row from the front. I was hypnotized by all the cool previews. The movie started not too much later.

I blinked. My popcorn was gone but that wasn't my problem. I think… my hair is messed up.

What? I can be a girly-girl when I wanna be.

"I'll be right back…" I said as I got up.

"Kay." Sora grinned at me.

I walked out towards the bathroom.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ready Riku?" Kairi looked over at her friend who was banging his head against the wall.

"What? Huh?" Riku blinked at her.

"Okay…. Now!" Kairi yelled and shut the bathroom door closed and locked it.

"Okay… so how is she supposed to get out?"

"When we see Sora leave. He'll think she snuck out the bathroom window."

"But… the girls' restroom doesn't have a bathroom window." Riku said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Sora doesn't – wait… how do you know the girls' restroom doesn't have a window?" Kairi arched her brow in suspicion.

"Uh… look there's Naminé!" Riku pointed in a random direction.

"Where?!?" Kairi squealed happily and looked in the direction Riku was pointing.

That wasn't Naminé. That was a guy with long blonde hair with a blonde mustache wearing a…. no… you don't need to know what he was wearing.

Kairi shivered as she looked away from the guy. She saw Riku was gone, talking to Rikku.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I finished brushing my hair to perfection and went towards the door. Yanking it open, I slapped myself on the forehead.

"What the...?" I blinked.

I tried opening it again. Nothing. Maybe it's jammed or something. I put one foot on the door and gripped the door handle and pulled the best I could. It ended up with me on the floor. The nasty… pee smelling floor. I quickly shot up. Bad idea! Turned out I was under a sink and bumped my head on a pipe. I growled some curses under my breath as I rubbed the spot that I hit.

Okay, so it's not jammed. I think I'm locked in. I gasped. I'm missing the movie! And worse…Sora might think I tried to escape through the window. This bathroom doesn't even have a window in the first place.

So only one thought came to my head, okay well two thoughts came, but I liked my first one better! I banged and yelled on the door.

"Help! I'm stuck! Help!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kairi laughed evilly as she heard the banging and cries for help. Riku sat next to her, munching on popcorn and sipping on a coke.

"So…" Riku munched. "When are we gonna let her out again?"

"Gah, how many times must I explain? When Sora comes out and leaves, we'll unlock the door!" Kairi said frustrated.

"Gee, don't throw a hissy fit. I just wanted to know…" Riku smirked. "_Princess_."

Kairi turned around and slapped Riku on the arm.

"I told you not to call me that!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Help…someone…help. SOS…" I was now back on the nasty floor, my banging becoming lighter and lighter.

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. I felt something in my hair. Not really knowing what it was, I took it out. It was a hair pin. What to do with a hair pin you may ask?

I quickly stood back up and inserted the pin into the door lock, fiddling with it. My mom taught me this trick in case I might forget my house key and she wouldn't be home.

"Turn left once… right twice…. left once…" I smirked when I heard a click.

I took out the pin and placed it in my pocket. I swung the door open hard and heard a muffled sound. I stopped and looked around from where the sound may have come from. Shrugging as I couldn't figure it out, I ran back to the movie.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kairi held her now red nose. She cried silently in pain. Talia just _had_ to swing that door open that hard.

"Well I guess you learned your lesson…" Riku said.

"Hell no! She may have won this time-"

"She won last time too," Riku reminded Kairi.

"Shut up! As I was saying, she may have won this time, but next time I will not fail!"

"Whatever you say… Princess Rudolph."

Kairi growled at his remark.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Thanks for taking me out… again," I smiled at Sora.

"No problem. You're fun to hang out with."

"Heh…" I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

We stood in silence for a few minutes. I rocked back and forth on my feet a little while Sora stared at the ground.

"So… see you at school!" I said.

"Yeah!"

I shifted my eyes quickly and pecked him on his cheek. Then I quickly went inside my house.

Sora stood on the doorstep, holding where Talia just kissed him at. A deep red blush came to his face.

"Yeah… I'll _defiantly_ see you at school."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N – HOLA PEOPLE! HERE IS AN UPDATE!! WOOT!! Er… the school scene with Sora and the weird classmate is by soragirl4ever. GO READ HER STORY NOWWWWWWWWWW!! Anywho… enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It sure wasn't like Seifer to be bent out of shape over a _girl_. I mean, sure he'd feel kind of bad if a girl broke up with him, but he'd _never_ stop caring for his personal hygiene and what he wore and stuff. So how come when Talia Kisaragi broke up with him, he felt empty? It felt like he was missing a page in his lifetime story book. His friends stop hanging around him because… well… he smelled bad.

Seifer knew what he had to do.

Win Talia back from whatever "Chicken Wuss" stole her from him. And he shall not rest (bathe for that fact too) until he has found the culprit!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chemistry with Hikaru-Sensei is not always fun. Her lectures are usually an hour long and very _very_ boring. I know what you're saying "Aren't all lectures boring?" Aha, that's funny. No.

Sora was sitting in the front of the class. Nothing new, oh except his best friend left him to sit by some emo kid. No, not Zexion either.

Sora was sitting next to the most emo girl out of the whole entire school. Her name was Xion. If you looked really close, you could see that she looks sort of like Kairi when she was 14. She has black short hair and always wears dark clothes. Today it seems like she's wearing an ankle-length dark blue skirt and a black tank top. Skull bracelets covered her wrist to her elbow. She didn't smile, nor look away from the book she was reading. Sora shivered as he saw a dead body on the front of the book and some of the title which was "How to" and the other part he could see was "death." Yeah… she's been dubbed the insane girl in 12th grade.

Sora looked over at Riku who is talking to Tidus. He was supposed to sit there, but Riku beat him to it.

His attention goes over to Xion who is now holding a little toy knife and trying desperately to cut away at her wrist.

"… When Albert Einstein invented the atomic bomb…"

Sora looked back at Hikaru-Sensei who has over bazillion words on the chalkboard already. Sighing, he took out a piece of paper and a pen.

Xion suddenly receives a note. She opens it and scribbles something down. Then she hands it to Sora.

Sora takes it and stares at it a little. Did Talia send this to him? He turns around and sees the girl's eyes focused on the paper in front of her. Going against that thought, he opens the slip.

_Yo, who is Talia going out with? Pass it to everyone in class except Talia._

Sora could see several people had already answered the question. Most of them said "I dunno" or "I don't know and I really don't give a fuck."

Xion wrote, "Who in this doomed world is Talia?"

Sora looked over at Xion who was staring at the paper she just handed him.

She caught his gaze and pointed behind her at Aerith. Aerith blinked at Sora before repeating Xion's move over to Tifa. From there, it kept going around that way until it finally landed on Seifer.

Seifer was intently looking at Sora. He could swear Seifer was about to burn a hole into him as he stared Sora down. What did he do to him?

"Has it ever occurred to you that you're holding his note?" Xion more stated than asked.

"Oh yeah, ha, forgot," Sora laughed nervously.

…Wait a minute. How did Xion know what he was thinking? Oh my, she's not only emo, but she's a mind reader too!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Class was ended shortly and I was, of course, one of the last ones out. I grabbed my books and stepped outside the room. There, leaning on the wall, was Seifer himself.

"Hey baby, ready to come back," he asked slyly.

I gave him an "Are-you-serious?" look. Deciding to ignore him, I tried to walk pass him to my locker. He obviously didn't like this since he grabbed me and pulled me roughly back.

"I said are you ready to come back to me?" Seifer repeated in a cold tone.

"I told you many times, we are over… and you reek! When's the last time you took a shower," I tried to desperately snatch my arm away from his tight grip.

"You don't mean that! And my hygiene is none of your concern. Now give me a kiss and let's get together again."

"Seifer I said no! I don't like you or anyone currently at this moment!"

Seifer glared at me coldly. He didn't scare me, so I glared back.

"Talia you are making the biggest mistake of your life," Seifer said in a low voice slowly.

"My only mistake was dating –"

_Slap!_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sora was confused as he walked in the cafeteria. No one was in there except the cafeteria ladies. Kairi or Riku wasn't even in there, which is a shocker because Kairi despises missing lunch. Sora turned around a left the cafeteria to search for his friends. He heard kids screaming around a near corner. Sora, being curious, turned the corner and saw a pile of students around two other students. There he saw Naminé, wide-eyed, staring at the group.

"Hey Nami, what's going?" Sora asked his only resource of information right now.

Naminé's big blue eyes started forming tears in the corner.

"Hey Naminé, what's wrong?" Sora asked again.

"Seifer… he… he hit her. Hard… so hard… echo," Was all the blonde could manage to get out.

Sora was confused. Who did Seifer hit? Did he hit Fuu? Nah, slim chance. Fuu was not a person no one would bother unless they were ready for their life to end.

So who else…?

Who… else?

Sora gasped as a certain blue haired girl popped into his mind. Sora, already furious, pushed and shoved through the crowd. There sat on the ground, cradling her left cheek, staring up at Seifer who hands were balled into a fist.

"Seifer!" Sora glared at him.

Seifer turned to the sound of noise. Everyone grew quiet as they looked at Sora's dead-serious face.

"What do you want chicken-wuss?"

"Did you touch her?" Sora felt the anger boiling in him.

"And if I did?" Seifer smirked.

Seifer knew Sora wouldn't lay a finger on him. Sora was the guy who could talk the talk but never take action. He'd mostly like say "Violence is not the answer" or something like that.

Before Seifer could stiff out a laugh, a shocking pain came to his left eye. He could feel the tears spilling from his eye.

"Hey man, his eye is bleeding, ya!" A student by the name of Wakka yelled.

Seifer carefully put his hand up to his eye and looked at the red liquid on his hand.

"You gonna wish you never did that!" Seifer snarled at Sora.

"No man, y'know. You hit a girl, that's where we draw the line." Rai said as him and Fuu outstretched their arms in front of Sora.

Fuu put her arms down and walked up to Seifer.

"Revenge."

Seifer glared at her. "You wouldn't hurt me. I'm your best friend."

"Enemy."

Fuu walked off with Rai following her behind.

"You won this battle Sora… but next time-"

"There won't be a next time Mr. Alamsy for you are expelled for a hitting a girl."

Everyone turned around and saw Mr. Axel and the principle, Ms. Edea Kramer.

"What about Sora!?! He made my eye bleed! He should be expelled."

"Sora is fine. He did what any man would do if he saw a man touch a woman! Now students clear the hall! This is taking up your only lunch time. Mr. Alamsy, meet me in my office now!"

The students clear the hall and went to where ever they were going. Sora ran over to Talia and helped her up.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked; worry was shown in his eyes.

Talia strained a smile at him and nodded her head. She removed her hand from her cheek and revealed a small cut on her cheek that was now starting to bleed.

"Tally-Chan you're bleeding!"

"I'm fine…" Talia drifted off.

Sora took her hand and led her to the nurse.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Kairi… you okay?"

Kairi stared as Sora helped Talia. She didn't want to believe it… but it was true. She thought it might have been a small crush… but now that she sees how far he is willing to go… she knew…

… Sora is truly in love with Talia Kisaragi.

Kairi's worried expression turned into a dark one in a matter of seconds. She clutched the end of her pink dress and held it tightly in her hand. Riku looked at his redheaded friend worriedly.

"Kai…"

"No! I won't lose him to her Riku! I just won't! Sora will be mine!" Kairi screamed at the already frightened silverette.

Riku nodded his head as Kairi walked away towards the cafeteria. When she was out of sight he let out a sigh. Riku knew very well of Kairi's feelings towards Sora… but… Riku thinks Sora might have actually found someone to spend the rest of his life with. Riku let out a heavy sigh. He knew what he had to do.

~*~*~*~*~

"It was just a cut Sora…" I sighed.

"But it was bleeding!"

"And? It's not a big deal."

"Yes it was!" Sora frowned.

"Sora… it was such not a big deal the nurse didn't even put a band-aid on it," I smiled a little as he pouted in defeat.

"Well whatever… at least you're okay. What caused Seifer to hit you?"

"I dunno. He wanted me back and I refused so he slapped me," I shrugged like it was no big deal. "I could have hit him back… but… I didn't feel like it."

Sora looked at me like I was retarded for a second.

"You didn't feel like it," he asked again, just to make sure he heard right.

"Yeah. I can be lazy sometimes too you know."

Sora laughed slightly at me as I gave him a grin. Then his smile suddenly slid off his face.

"Talia…"

"Hm?" I looked up at him.

He had a serious face on. What was wrong? Did I do something? Oh my gosh, is he going to confess to me? Bad Talia! Of course he wouldn't, we're just good friends is all.

How come when I say that, my heart hurts?

Oh well.

"I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" I asked him.

"This would have never happened if I hadn't told you that he was using you… it's all my fault."

"Don't go blaming yourself! Everybody told me he was using me… except I just decided to listen to you. None of this is your fault. It's Seifer's! He has to learn to let go and move on! The way he acted… before he hit me… he acted as if his world fell apart just because we're over." I explained to Sora. He nodded his head at me.

"Well… I think you're okay now. Wanna head to lunch before it's over?"

"Sure why not!" I jumped up and ran out the nurse's office, leaving Sora behind.

~*~*~*~*~

As I left Sora behind (slow poke) and walked to the cafeteria, I accidently ran into a girl. She turned around and I instantly recognized her.

She was that crazy fan-girl of Sora's. I smiled at her and tried to walk past her only to run into another girl.

I looked up and now that I realize it… most of his fan-girls were here. What's going on? Is this some type of meeting in the hallway or something? And if it is… why in the hallway?

"Hello Scalia Krisarago." The girl who needed help in Spanish sneered.

"It's Talia Kisaragi-"

"I don't give a damn," She snapped.

"Excuse me? Who are you talking to like that?" I asked her with a glare.

This chick doesn't know who she's messing with. Has anyone heard that I'm the cousin of Yuffie Kisaragi, the girl who was a legacy in this school? Just because I'm quiet (Do you really believe that?), doesn't mean I do not know how to fight!

"Stay away from Sora you bitch." Another girl said.

Okay… really… are they serious? They were all cool with me yesterday. What happened?

"We'll make the rest of your school life here a living hell if you keep going out with Sora."

"Um… what happened to you guys? We were okay yesterday…"

"Today is a new day… nerd."

Ouch. I knew I was considered a "nerd" throughout the school, but no one has ever said it to my face before.

Well… time for me to fight back I guess.

"Um… who are you telling me what to do? You are not my mother or my father, okay? So I suggest you step off."

That's the last thing I say before I continue my way to the cafeteria. What is their problem?

~*~*~*~*~

"So what now Leslie?" a fan-girl asks the girl who needs help in Spanish.

"I feel bad for talking to Talia like that…" She responds.

"But Kairi said she could get us a date with Sora if we did…" a brunette says.

"Do you guys actually think she can do that? Kairi is just using you to get Talia away from Sora. She will never set you guys up with Sora… because she loves him herself…"

The fan-girls turn around and come face to face with…

"Hi Pence!!"

Pence frowns at the only fan-girl who says hi to him (and who just happens to be his 1 year younger sister).

"Hi Rebecca… anyway… so yeah."

"You expect us to believe a fat boy like you?" Leslie more states than asks.

"You should."

The girls turn around and about of quarter of them faint.

"Riku?" Pence asks, confused.

"Yeah. Listen to Pence. His friends are on it too. Kairi and Pence's friends are trying to break up Talia and Sora before they fall in love with each other." Riku explains.

"Reason being is because Roxas, my friend, is in love with Talia and Kairi, as you all know, is in love with Sora. You see, the problem is that Sora is already in love with Talia. It's been confirmed from the constant staring at her…"

"And the blushing when she even says one word to him…"

"But for now, Talia doesn't feel the same. She's happy right now being single and out of love." Pence says.

The fan-girls look totally and completely lost. Well they just wasted their breath on complete duds.

"Well girls… believe what you want. See you later." And with that Riku winks at them (insert more fainting here) and walks away.

Pence grins at them and goes the opposite direction of Riku.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey Tal! You okay?" Hayner asked as I slammed my lunch tray down stabbed my fork into the yellowish looking meat they were serving us.

"I'm fine!" I snarled at the blonde. His face seemed to be offended as he and the rest of my friends stared at me in silence.

"Hey Talia… come with me for a sec…" Roxas finally broke the silence. I looked up at him and nodded my head slowly.

I followed quietly behind him out the cafeteria. I looked up at where Sora and his friends were sitting. There was Kairi holding onto his arm with big puppy dog eyes and Sora laughing at her. A small frown made its way to my lips.

But… why am I frowning in the first place?

"Talia… I know you're not okay," Roxas spoke up once we were outside the cafeteria.

"What are you talking about Roxas? I'm perfectly fine-"

"Stop faking damn it! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

I looked slightly frightened at the look Roxas gave me. A cold hard glare burned into my eyes.

"Well… every since I… started hanging with Sora… I've been treated differently by other people. It's like they're mad at me for nothing! What did I do?" I look to the floor as I tell Roxas.

"What do you expect Talia? He's Sora! Sora, one of the most popular kids in school along with Kairi and Riku! Plus, most people probably think you're interfering with the whole Sora dating Kairi thing. Everyone knows they're the couple meant to be."

I tightened my hand into a fist.

"Well what if it wasn't meant to be?!?" I scream at him.

Why am I screaming over this?

Roxas laughed slightly at my sudden frustration, "Hey Tal, remember when your dad first left your mom?"

I nodded my head and urged him to go on.

"I remember you were upset for weeks, but then your grandmother told you about the red string of fate. She told you that when you are born an invisible red thin string is tied around your pinky finger and another man's finger and they are destined to be soul mates? She said she knew for a fact that your parents were soul mates and that your father would return. Remember that?"

"Yeah… but why bring all this up now. My dad already returned." I said, not completely understanding what he was trying to point out.

"Well… maybe Sora and Kairi are soul mates," Roxas said slowly.

I blinked at him. Sora… and Kairi… soul mates? I never thought of that before. Maybe Kairi gets so angry with me because she knows that they are soul mates already. Even with that though… she still shouldn't try to threaten his friend. If she knows that they're soul mates then she has nothing to worry about.

"Talia? You okay?" Roxas asked as I went a little too long without speaking.

"Yeah I'm good! But… I am hungry! C'mon Roxy, let's go finish lunch!" I grabbed his hand and dragged him back into the cafeteria.

"H-hey! I told you not to call me that!"

I smiled slightly to myself. Soul mates huh?


	10. Chapter 10

"Here you go Talia!!!"

"Thank you," I smiled as the 12th grade class president handed me my graduation invitations. I can't believe next Saturday I'll be graduating from high school and moving to Atlantica to start college life!

Things are happening so quickly.

"Talia?"

I'm sure gonna miss everyone.

"Tally?"

I have to admit this too… I'm gonna… miss Sora.

"Tally-Chan?!"

"What?!?" I jumped and turned to look up at Sora.

"Class is over," he grinned at me.

"Oh…" he was right. Class was over. In fact we were the only 2 in here.

"So what are you doing after school?" He asked me.

"Ugh… I got to work until 7," I made a face that caused Sora to laugh a little.

"Oh… so I guess you're not going to the festival are you?" Sora asked.

"What festival?" I asked him as I grabbed my books and walked ahead of him out the classroom.

Sora blushed and ran up to me.

"The annual Destiny High festival. It's fun! We have like games and stuff."

"And stuff…" I repeated.

"Oh like there's the Test of Courage."

"Oh…" My eyes widened when he mentioned "Test of Courage."

Scary stuff and I do not mix. At all.

"Yeah!"

My face paled. There was absolutely no way I was gonna go into a Test of Courage. No way man, I don't think so.

"Er… I don't think I can make it…" I smiled nervously at Sora.

He blinked at me and I blinked back.

"Liar," he simply said and smiled slightly at me.

"Nuh uh! I'm not lying!" I frown at him.

"Uh huh, so what you have to do that cause you to miss the festival?" Sora got real close to my face.

I blushed and blinked as my eyes went crossed eyed.

_iThump!_

_Thump! _

_Thump!/i_

Why is my heart beating fast?

Oh well.

"Uh… I have to um… er… I'm hanging out with Hayner and the guys after work?" I tried to make it sound more of a statement instead of a question.

"Okay yeah… sure Talia…" Sora walked ahead me before turning back around with one of his infamous grins, "But… I hope you know they're going to!"

And with that he ran off laughing slightly to himself while I stood there cursing myself for forgetting my friends LIVE for scary things.

Darn it. I guess I have to go after all.

center~*~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"So Tally, you going to the festival after work?" Melanie batted her eyes at me.

"Yeah…" I let my head fall onto the check-out desk.

"Are you gonna go in… the Test of Courage?" Melanie's voice suddenly dropped dramatically and sounded eerie, causing me to quickly lift my head up in fright.

"Shut up!" I yelled at her.

"… Are you?"

"If Hayner or Roxas or somebody goes in with me…"

"Oh, okay hun. Well…"

She suddenly appeared behind me.

"Have fun," she said in another eerie voice.

This time I grabbed the nearest book and smacked her on the head with it.

"Meany…" She slithered away while rubbing her head with a pout on her face.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"Going out again Talia?" My dad asked me. I finished tying up my shoes and looked over at him.

"Yeah… why?" I raised a brow.

"Oh no reason… do you happen to be hanging out with that Sora kid again?"

I frowned at him. This was no time to go "over-protective" father on me. I have to get to the festival and hide from my friends and Sora! That way they can't find me and I won't have to go into the Test of Courage. Just the thought of it made me shiver.

"Nah…" Hm… maybe I should mess with my daddy a little, "I'm going out with Roxas!"

"WHAT?!?!"

Guess who.

My mom came running into the living room from the kitchen and grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me crazily.

"TALIA ARISA KISARAGI IS WHAT MY YOUNG EARS TELL ME THE TRUTH OF WHAT YOU JUST SAID?!?!"

Damn… how do I tell her it was just a joke to upset my father? Oh well… guess I better keep playing around. Good thing my friends aren't coming to pick me up.

"TALIA ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! YOU AND ROXAS ARE A COUPLE NOW?!?!" She screamed in my face with a scary looking grin on her face.

"Er… yeah?" I nodded my head awkwardly.

"Oh this is great! Vincent lets hurry up and plan the wedding!"

"Wedding?" My dad and I said in unison while glancing at each other.

Whelp… its official. My mom has completely lost her 24 year old mind.

"And here I thought you were going to get together with that popular boy! Now I see you were fated with Roxas."

"I guess?" I said unsurely.

_iDing dong./i_

I walked to the door and answered. Gee… my luck just keeps getting better and better.

"Hey Talia! Ready to go? Hayner and the others are waiting. They sent me to pick you up."

"Roxas shut up!" I hushed the blonde boy. He blinked at my hand over his mouth.

"Talia? Who is it?" My mom called from the living room.

"Uh… mom gotta go! It's um… er… bye!"

With that I pushed Roxas out the door and slammed the door behind me.

"Keep walking and don't look back," I continued to lead Roxas.

"Hey Talia!"

Oh great. It's the other one!

Sora came to a halt as I had Roxas in a position that looked as if I was arresting him for killing a 65 year old woman.

"Er… hi?" I said awkwardly.

"Um… are you perhaps heading towards the festival?" Sora asked, completely ignoring the death glares Roxas was sending him.

"Yup! Roxas and I are going to meet up with my other friends."

"Oh! I'm meeting up with Riku and Kairi."

"Okay, wanna walk with us then?" I asked him as I still held Roxas in a threatening position.

"Sure…" Sora smiled at me. Roxas just rolled his eyes.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

My eyes widened at how huge the festival was. They had games, shows, and then of course… was the test of courage. Sora had ditched Roxas and me after he took notice of Kairi and Riku at a ring toss stand. So now it was just Roxas, Olette, Hayner, Pence, and me!

"So Talia, walk here with Roxas?" Hayner smirked at me.

"Yeah… why?" I asked.

"Oh no reason…" he rocked back and forth on his feet.

"So Tally, going in the test of courage?" Olette smiled at me, already knowing the answer.

"Hell no! You guys know I'm terrified of scary stuff!" I frowned at them.

"I'll be with you Talia," Roxas said reassuringly.

"I'm pretty sure you all will, but I still don't want to go in it."

"Whatever! Let's just go get something to eat! I'm starving," Pence whined while holding his stomach.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"Hey guys…" Sora said once he reached over where Kairi and Riku were.

"What up?" Riku smirked at his friend.

"Hey Sora… you walk her by yourself?" Kairi asked as she focused on throwing the ring on the pole.

"Her?" Sora blinked confused.

"I-I mean here! Did you walk here by yourself?" Kairi stuttered.

"Um… no, I walked here with Talia and Roxas."

Kairi missed her target once she heard Sora say Talia. She tightened her fist and lightly growled under her breath. Riku raised a brow at the steaming redhead as he saw her reaction.

"Kai… you okay?" Sora patted Kairi on her shoulder.

Kairi blushed under his touch. "J-just fine. Where is Talia?"

"She's with her friends. Why?"

"Just wondering is all…"

"I thought maybe her friends and us could walk through the Test of Courage together…" Sora said in a questioning voice.

"Sure!"

"No!"

Kairi and Riku glared at each other.

"I'm a girl! So whatever I say goes!" Kairi debated with Riku.

"I don't give a damn Kai. I'm the oldest out of all you guys. I say sure!" Riku argued back.

"I want it to just be us 3! Like how it used to be!"

"Well there is always room for new friends, right Sora?" Riku turned to Sora.

"Sora tell him that we need to spend quality time together i_without/i_ Talia and her posse."

Sora looked back and forth from Kairi to Riku. He surely did not want to choose from hanging with Talia to just entering the Test of Courage with just them 3.

"C'mon Sora! Choose already!" Kairi began to make a face she was absolutely Sora could not resist.

Riku rolled his eyes at Kairi and looked at Sora with an "I could care less" expression.

"I guess… us three could just go." Sora said.

"YAY!!!" Kairi began to jump up and down while clapping.

"Well then, let's go," Riku said as he began to walk ahead of them.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"No! Don't make go in there you guys!!!" I tried to pull back as my friends pulled me towards the entrance of the Test of Courage.

Olette and Roxas were pulling my arms towards the entrance while Hayner was behind me pushing me from my back. Pence was walking beside me, munching on some sea salt strawberry ice cream.

"Help Pence! Please!?!" I turned my attention to him as he licked his ice cream.

"Sorry Tally, I'm eating. I would help but…"

I pouted as we reached the line of the Test of Courage.

"Look its Sora and his friends!" Pence pointed out towards the trio.

My attention suddenly turned towards Sora. He was waiting in line with Kairi and Riku while talking to Kairi. Kairi was grinning at him while he made a face at her.

Kairi sure does love him, doesn't she?

_i"…But you love him more!"/i_

"W-what? I do not!" I suddenly said aloud.

"You don't what Talia?" Roxas looked at me who had abruptly stopped struggling and waited in line patiently.

"Uh… didn't someone say…?" I looked confused.

"Say what?"

"Eh… never mind!" I shook my head and forced a smile to my friends.

"I bet she's just stalling because we're next in line to go in!" Hayner said.

Wait… next in line?

I looked up and sure enough, we were next in line to go in.

"Well well well, if it isn't Talia and her friends?"

We looked over to Riku who was standing in front of us and smirking at me for some strange reason. Why was he smirking at me in the first place? I have no clue.

"Hey Riku…" I said slowly.

Kairi glared at me when my attention went over to her. I gladly returned the look towards her.

"We should go in together!" Pence said as he threw his ice cream stick on the ground.

"No!" Hayner, Olette, Roxas, and Kairi yelled in unison.

"Aw why not? I want to go in with Talia so I can scare her!" Sora grinned.

I blushed. "S-shut up!"

"Whatever, let's just go in together."

Our small group of 8 walked in together to meet up with a bigger group of people. Everyone was talking and carrying on while some were looking quite a bit pale from the little light that surrounded us. I was one of those people.

"Settle down everyone! We have to begin the story now!" The story-teller said to the group of people.

Everyone immediately quieted down and started to listen intently to the story-teller guy.

"Several years ago, a girl by the name of Amanda Heartily attended this very school. She was the one of the prettiest red-headed girls in the school and all the guys took advantage of her except for her guy best friend. Amanda was in love with her guy best friend but he never felt the same and made sure she knew about it. One day, after seeing her guy friend making out with another girl, Amanda ran into these very woods behind this school where she hung herself from a tree branch. Several days later her body was discovered by her guy friend. After his discovery, no one ever saw him leave the woods. Now they say, whoever enters these woods will never return. As Amanda will haunt and kill you slowly."

"All right let's go!" A random guy shouted.

"Okay everyone get together with a partner." The story-teller guy said.

"Wanna be my partner Tally?"

I looked up at Sora and nodded my head. Heh, as long as someone is going in with me, I could care less who my partner is.

"Riku! You're my partner!" Kairi whispered to the silverette.

"No thanks…"

"You i_will/i_ be my partner! You have no say in this!"

Riku gave Kairi a look that said "Who do you think you're talking to like that?"

Kairi glared at him in response.

"Yo Pence, wanna be my partner?" Riku called over to the short chubby guy.

"Sure… I guess," Pence shrugged.

Kairi's face literally turned red from anger.

"Fine… I see how it is! I'll just go in with Hayner!"

"Nope. I'm with Olette. Go in with Roxas," Hayner smiled sheepishly at her.

"Fine…" Kairi rolled her eyes.

"If it makes you feel any better… I really don't want to go in with you either," Roxas stared as Talia and Sora walked together in the Test of Courage.

"Hm… wanna get your girl Roxas?" Kairi smiled slyly at him.

Roxas raised his brow at her as they began to walk into the woods.

"Here's what we need to do…"

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

I was truly TERRIFIED of everything. Every now and then a shadow figure would quickly run past me and Sora, causing me to scream. Then children's laughter and screams could be heard everywhere. The path was invisible due to all the fog and little light. Only light we had was this small lantern they gave Sora before we entered.

How Sora put up with this, I have no clue.

"Talia you do know this stuff is all fake right? None of it is real." Sora reassured me.

"I-I know…" I unnoticeably stood closer to him, causing are arms to brush against each other.

This time I felt something cold and slimy touch my arm that wasn't close to Sora. My reaction? I jumped and quickly wrapped my arms around Sora's neck, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Um… Talia, I can't really walk with you holding on to me like this…"

I quickly let go and blushed. "S-sorry."

"If it makes you feel better, I can hold your hand?"

I grabbed his hand and we continued to walk through the scary maze.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"Let's just get this straight. I am not gay. I'm only your partner because I didn't want to partner up with Kairi." Riku explained to Pence.

"I understand… I didn't walk with one my friends either… I get sick of their little shenanigans," Pence rolled his eyes.

"Shenanigans? Like what?"

"Like trying to break up Talia and Sora. They want Talia to like Roxas not Sora and they think Sora is interfering. I personally think Talia and Sora are cute together, no homo."

"Wow… Kairi is trying to get me to do the same thing. I don't want to get involve but she's so… demanding. I think Sora really likes Talia…"

"How do you know?" Pence asked as he accidently ran into a headless body hanging from a tree limb.

"He talks to her nonstop when he's not around her."

"I think… we should team up!" Pence said.

"What," Riku turned to the short boy.

"Like… my friends and Kairi are like on the same page, so if we break from their book and start a new one, maybe we can throw their book off the market."

"Okay… what the hell did you just say?"

Pence sighed. "I mean we should stop getting involved with their plans and we should team up and make sure they don't ruin Talia and Sora's relationship."

"Oh… that makes sense. Okay… sure."

"Excellent."

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"Kairi can you i_please/i_ stop walking so slow." Roxas complained.

"No… we want to keep a safe distance from them so I can jump out and scare them."

"You mean Talia…"

"Whatever! Just make sure you grab Talia when I scare her and then I'll kidnap Sora!"

"I got it."

"Good…" Kairi shined the light in his face. Her frown suddenly turned into a light smile.

"Hey Roxas… ever noticed you look like Sora?"

"No…"

"Oh… well… anyway, let's continue on."

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

Finally Sora and I have reached the middle of the forest, where that Amanda or Samantha girl hung herself. I was still holding onto Sora's hand.

Sora had to walk slowly with me because I was scared something was going to jump out at me.

"Talia they said this is the least scary part… so it's okay."

"Yeah… sure," I said.

He laughed slowly as he shined the light closer to me. His smile slowly faded as he could see my face.

"You're very pretty Talia…" he whispered quietly.

"What?" I quickly turned to him.

"Ah… nothing, let's go!" He said nervously.

I smiled as we continued to take baby steps towards the exit of the forest. I heard perfectly well what he said.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"Ready Roxas?"

"I still don't get how we passed them without them seeing us."

"Whatever. Do I look scary?"

Roxas shined the light on Kairi. All she did was cover her face with powder, darkened her eyeliner around her eyes and heavily put blood red lipstick on her lips. Not really scary, but to Talia; it would be terrifying.

"Alright, get behind that bush," Kairi directed Roxas.

"…Fine…" Roxas sighed and got behind the bush like he was ordered to do.

"Time for plan: Scare Talia to Roxas and get Sora to Kairi!"

"Wow… that's the longest plan I ever heard." Roxas said.

"Shut up! They're coming!" Kairi hissed.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"See it wasn't that bad. We're almost to the exit."

"I guess…" I shrugged.

I was not so scared now. After we left the middle of the forest everything seemed to calm down. Not too many people popped up at us. It was still as dark as hell, but not too bad. I wonder how Roxas and the others are doing. Olette is probably hanging onto Hayner for her dear life.

Ha… I'm not scared anymore.

"Talia stop!"

"Huh?" I blinked. I turned around and saw Sora had stopped walking and had a terrified face on.

I turned back around and came face to face with the ghost of Amanda. Too frightened to move, I stared at the girl as she slowly started to reach out for me. As soon as she was about an inch away from me I felt someone quickly pick me up bridal style and run off. Tears of fear were already spilling from eyes.

I couldn't even see who picked me up.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"Kairi!?!" Sora said as he recognized the redhead through all the make-up.

"Who is this Kairi," she said in a ghostly voice.

"Kairi… stop playing. It's obviously you because Roxas just came and kidnapped Talia."

"Fine it's me."

"What are you doing?" Sora asked.

"I… um… thought we could play a little joke on you guys. No harm. I didn't know she was that much of a scaredy cat," Kairi laughed slightly to herself but stopped once she saw Sora run past her.

"Where you going?" Kairi asked.

"To find Talia," Sora called back at her.

Kairi's eyes glared at Sora as he ran off in the direction Talia and Roxas had gone.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

"Roxas!?!?" I glared at him. He smiled sheepishly at me.

"Hey Tally…"

"Don't "Hey Tally" me! How i_could/i_ you? And was that Kairi!?!" I asked.

"Kairi…? How'd you-"

"I'm not dumb. I can't believe you did that! I guess I should have expected it though… you, Hayner, and Olette have been constantly trying to ruin me and Sora! And I'm sick of it! Listen, if you like me so much… then you should be able to trust me."

With that I walked off into the woods, hoping that I could get back on the right path to outside this stupid Test of Courage thing. While walking I ran into some scary looking people. Was I going backwards in this place?

I got scared again. First I have no freakin clue where I am and now scary people are popping out at me. And what's worse is that I don't have a small lantern with me so I can see, so it's pitch black.

"Talia…?"

I heard my name being called from a distant. Of course, I got scared as it sounded all ghost like.

Then I saw a small light come out of nowhere along with the person calling my name. I froze as it got closer and closer. I felt my tears coming back.

Well… this is the end of me. I knew this place was really haunted from the moment I stepped foot in here.

"Talia!"

The ghost touched me and I broke down crying.

"Tally-Chan why are you crying? It's okay…" the ghost suddenly set down the lantern and hugged me.

Wait… this isn't a ghost.

It's Sora.

I slowly wrapped my arms around him, hugging him back. We stopped hugging and I looked confused.

"Where are we?" I asked him.

"The beginning of the maze."

"Oh… that explains why people were jumping out at me again."

Sora laughed slightly at me.

We heard laughter coming from behind us and the sound of running feet. I soon saw some young kids running quickly behind Sora.

"Sora watch out-"

Too late. The kids bumped into Sora hard causing him to fall over.

That's not all what happened.

He had accidentally kissed me.

My eyes were widened but they were slowly coming to a close.

Why… were… they… coming to a close? I couldn't think straight. My mind was completely blank. And… why was neither of us pulling back from the kiss?

Finally my senses came back and I pulled away. My face completely red and confused.

"Ah… sorry-"

"I-it's okay… I um… have to go," I quickly said and started to run out the Test of Courage.

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

As I ran out the Test of Courage, I had run into Roxas and the gang. Riku and Kairi were standing their also, waiting for Sora I guess.

Hayner caught my arm as I ran past him.

"Talia what's wrong?"

They all saw the tears running down my face.

"Let me go please… I'm going home…" I said quietly.

He let go of me and let me run off towards the direction of Twilight Town.

When I got home I went straight to my room. My mom was constantly knocking on my door, wondering why I came home so early and why was I crying.

Tell you the truth; I had no clue why I was crying either. All this emotions came over me after I kissed Sora. I suddenly got nervous around him and my heart was beating uncontrollably.

Am…

Am I in love with…Sora?

center~*~*~*~*~*~/center

Kairi sat one of the outside tables with Riku in front of the café in the festival. Sora had suddenly decided to go home early like Talia. She couldn't help but get the feeling that something happened between those two while they were in there.

"Tidus you ran into Sora and caused him to kiss that girl, ya!" Wakka frowned at his younger friend.

"So? That girl sure didn't oppose to pulling back from the kiss anytime soon and Sora seemed too shocked to do anything, but he was blushing big time!"

Kairi's cup that was in her hand dropped to the table. Riku looked at the redhead carefully.

"Kairi… stop…"

Kairi looked over to Riku and frowned.

"Riku… I'm gonna make the rest of that girl's high school year a living hell."


	11. Chapter 11

"Hello?" Hayner answered his cell phone as Olette, Roxas, Pence, and him sat in their little space that was secluded from the outside world they called the Usual Spot.

"Hayner who is it?" Olette asked as she stood up from the raggedy green couch she always sat on.

"Kairi…"

Everyone's attention turned to the blonde.

What could Kairi possibly want with them? They thought she despised them as much as they did her.

"She wants us… to join her," Hayner looked up at everyone, confused.

Roxas sat quietly with his head down. He knew _exactly_ what Kairi was talking about.

~*~*~*~*~

"Talia, sweetie, don't you want to come out of your room now? Aren't you hungry?"

"No…" was all I answered to my mother as she continuously spoke to me through my locked bedroom door.

"Okay then… um… I'm going out for a while… your dad is here if you want to talk to anyone."

"…"

"Well… bye," I listened as I heard my mother's footsteps descend down the stairs.

Every since last night at the festival, I haven't left my room. I even missed school today. And it is rare of me to miss school. Flashbacks of when Sora accidentally kissed me keeps running through my head and each time tears spill from my eyes. I don't even know why I keep crying, but I do for some reason.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

My attention went over to my flashing phone. It's been like that since last night. Someone sent me a new text message almost every 30 minutes or so. I'm pretty sure I have over 10 by now. If my guess is correct, then most of them are from Roxas.

Roxas…

I couldn't even think about him. My best friend let Kairi get to his head and he did that to me. Heh… and he said he loved me.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Another text…

I stood up and wiped the left over tears from my eyes and grabbed my phone from my desk.

Sure enough, I had 11 text messages and 5 missed calls. I flipped open my phone to the full keyboard part and scrolled down to read all my text messages. Most of them were from Olette, 3 from Pence, 2 from Roxas, and 1 from Hayner. Most of it was about what happened last night and why did I "skip" school.

I decided I should reply to one of them; and that one of them certainly wasn't going to be Roxas. I'm still mad at him!

I went to the create-a-new-text screen and began to type my text message when my phone suddenly flashed to a new screen.

"New text?" I blinked as the bright screen flashed in my face.

Being curious, I clicked the "accept" to see who it was from.

_New text from… __**Sora**__._

My eyes widened. Sora… sent me a text? Why?

_He's your friend dumbass. He's probably worried about you._

I… guess that explains it. I mean what else could it be?

_**Skipped school today Talia?! I'm surprised!**_

I blinked at the text. It sure didn't seem like he was worried about the kiss. Am I the only one who is freaking out over this? I mean… it _was_ an accident in the first place. So… why am I so worked up over it… and he's not?

_**I'm fine… be at school tomorrow… I hope.**_

I closed my phone and returned to my bed. Guess tomorrow I have to act as nothing happened as well.

~*~*~*~*~

"Hey Tally!"

I turned around and saw my friends walking up towards me. I couldn't help but take notice a certain look on Roxas's face. A look of guilt… or something; I don't know.

"Hi guys…" I smiled faintly at them. "What happened at school yesterday?"

"How should I know? I barely pay attention myself," Hayner grinned.

Olette rolled her eyes at him. "We have a last minute history project due on Friday. We're in partners; teacher's choice."

I groaned. I absolutely HATED when teachers chose your partners for you. One time I was partnered up with this guy named Zack Fair. He was a complete total slob! He would spill the chemicals and say something like "Oh well!" or "Clean that up for me, will ya babe?" It got annoying as hell after awhile. I still got my A though, so no worries.

"And… who is my partner?" I said slowly.

I noticed as they all looked at each other with unsure faces. Pence was smirking slightly at me.

"Um… your partner is… um-"

"Sora!" Pence cut off Hayner, "Sora is your partner."

I gasped as he said Sora. Just his name bought back memories of Friday night. I still couldn't shake that memory out of my head. It was like I was just stolen of my first kiss and held some sort of grudge against the person who did it.

"Sora…?" I said unsurely.

"You know, the teacher might let you ask for an exchange in partners if you really really REALLY beg for it," Hayner grinned.

"No it's okay… I don't mind working with Sora…" I dazed off a little after I said Sora's name.

Well… guess avoiding him is out of the question.

~*~*~*~*~

Sora walked into the school with Riku. He wondered where Kairi was since they usually met up at the front of the school building. She wasn't there this morning which was rare. Kairi was usually the first one to arrive.

"Hey, Riku, where's Kairi?"

Riku arched a brow as he reached his locker with Sora. "I don't know. She's probably planning something."

"Planning something… like what," Sora asked carefully. He remembers plenty of times where Kairi has "planned" something.

Riku gave Sora a simple shrug before proceeding to opening his locker and getting his books out.

"Well there goes Talia and her gang. Aren't you partnered up with her in a project?" Riku arched a brow at Sora.

"Er… yeah. How'd you know that?"

"You hear things when you're popular and plus, your fan girls know _everything_ about you. It's kinda creepy," Riku and Sora both shivered before bursting out in laughter.

"See you at lunch man," Sora said as he was about to walk off.

"Bye-" Riku was cut off as half the hallway let out the most dramatic gasp he ever heard out of his 18 years of life.

"Kairi are you okay?"

"Kairi what happened?"

"I swear, as soon as I found out who did this, I'll beat em' into a pulp!

Sora and Riku turned towards the front of the school building only to see their childhood friend covered in bruises from head to toe with a slit under her right eye and her left eye was black. Her right foot was bandaged up and she walked with a very noticeable limp. Sora caught glance as the redheaded girl was about to trip.

"Kairi!" He yelled as he quickly pushed through the crowd to the falling girl. He luckily caught her time as she was inches away from the floor.

Kairi looked up at Sora with watery violet blue eyes. Sora couldn't help but stare at how pathetic his best friend looked. Kairi instantly grasped the boy in a hug and started crying, causing the hallway to grow silent.

"Wow…" Riku whistled out. He knew she was planning something. He'll have to find Pence right away and solve this mystery. Riku knew for a fact that Kairi would not allow herself to be beat up like that. Kairi was the type of girl who would **not** go down without a fight and usually made sure she'd come up on top.

~*~*~*~*~

I sat in class with my head on my desk. Last night I barely got any sleep because my mother was planning my wedding. I knew I should have never said I was dating Roxas. I'm not even talking to the boy! When I came downstairs for breakfast she was fast asleep on the kitchen table with magazines of wedding dresses and a calculator underneath her.

Got to love my mom, right?

"Hey, did you hear what happened to Kairi?" A student, Riley, asked Yuna.

"I was there when she walked in! Poor Kai… I wonder who would do such a horrible thing."

I was confused. What was wrong with Kairi? I mean… I know I don't like her and all, but still… I wonder what was wrong with her.

"Hey Tally-Chan!"

I looked up at Sora as he did his infamous grin.

Uh oh. I wasn't expecting to deal with him so soon. How could I forget he was in my homeroom though?

"What'cha do last weekend?" He smiled as he took a seat next to me.

"Um… I… er…" I blinked at him. I don't know what to say to him! It's like there's a big clump in my throat or something and I just can't seem to swallow it.

"Settle down class."

I let out a sigh of relief. Saved by Mr. Saix. Even if he is a creepy teacher, he sure does know the right times to pop out of nowhere. Almost like he just opens a dark portal and comes here in a flash. Crazy, right? I know.

"Let's get started with today's lesson…" he yawned and gave us a look like he hated being here and surrounded by children.

I was dazing in and out throughout most of the class. Sora was on my mind constantly. Occasionally I would glance over at him.

He looked so… so perfect as he wrote down the stuff on the board. His eyes were focused but still gave off they were still kind of tired. His breathing was at a calm steady pace…

…Wait… why am I paying so much attention to him? I should be doing my work!

"Okay class, that's all were going to cover today. You guys have to report to the auditorium after the morning news for news of the graduation and stuff," Saix rolled his eyes at us. I swear, he hates us and probably wants to steal our hearts or something.

My attention turned to the TV as it came on by itself. Blue and white bubble letters appeared on the screen saying "Destiny High Daily News" or also known as "DH News."

"Good morning. I am Naminé Harumi from homeroom 414. Today we bring you late breaking news."

I smiled at Naminé. She still managed to keep her sweet shy voice and say the news loudly so everyone could hear her. She wore the school uniform with her blonde hair brushed over to her right shoulder and a light blue headband with a white ribbon on the side. She sure did support the school didn't she?

"And I'm Zidane Tribal! Homeroom 315!" A dirty blonde boy screamed into the microphone.

Naminé looked over at Zidane awkwardly as he smiled brightly at her.

"Go on with the breaking news already babe! I can't wait to see the video!" Zidane smirked at Naminé, who just rolled her eyes.

"Don't call me babe," Naminé grumbled. "Anyway, today we have breaking news. As you may know Kairi Nakamu-"

"AKA the SEXIEST female alive…" Zidane eyed Naminé up and down. "Other than sweet thing here."

"As I was saying, Kairi Nakamura entered the school today covered in bruises accompanied with a black eye. Kairi gave permission to DH News to show the tape of how this happened to her. Now, Kairi asks that no severe punishment comes towards the certain student who did this-"

"I'LL FUCK THEM UP!!!" Zidane screamed.

"Zidane please!" Naminé said in a frustrated voice.

"Sorry baby, don't be jealous. I still love you," he chuckled.

"Ugh, just roll the tape!"

"And while that's happening, we can make out," Zidane blew a kiss to Naminé.

They were cut off as a tape began to play. Everyone in the class room was silent. A picture came into view as Kairi was walking down the street, humming to Fireflies by Owl City. Suddenly a blue haired girl came running up to Kairi and pushed her to the ground. She then proceeded to jump on top of Kairi and punch her repeatedly. The camera then seemed to get closer to the fight.

"Hey! Get off of her!" The cameraman screamed as the blue haired girl punched Kairi.

"Fuck off! This is between Kairi and me!" The blue haired girl screamed.

"Get off of me Talia!" Kairi screamed as she managed to push Talia off.

Wait… did she say… Talia? I turned away from the screen to see everyone's eyes still glued to the TV. How could Kairi possible mean me? I didn't even go out all weekend!

The fake me in the video then kicked Kairi in her side then punched her in her right eye before taking off. Kairi coughed weakly before getting up.

"Are you okay Miss?" The cameraman asked Kairi.

Kairi smiled weakly at the man and walked away. Then the screen went back to Zidane and Naminé whose eyes were wide open.

"Woah…"

"You seniors are CRAZY!" Zidane said, his mouth dropped open.

Naminé shook her head before focusing her attention back to the camera. "Well that's all we have today. Seniors please report to the auditorium after homeroom-"

"WHO IN THE FUCKING WORLD IS TALIA? THAT QUIET NERD IN THE 12TH GRADE?!?! I'LL BEAT HER ASS INTO A PUL-"

The screen was then cut off to a blue screen followed by an annoying humming noise. Mr. Saix rolled his eyes as he turned off the TV.

The bell soon rung shortly after. Everyone got up and rushed towards the auditorium. I watched as Sora just left without saying anything to me. That was strange… he usually waited for me. Maybe… he just wants to get a good seat next to his friends in the auditorium.

~*~*~*~*~

The auditorium was packed by the time I reached there. I just barely found a seat next to… Roxas. Well guess fate says we can't stay apart too long from each other.

"Settle down students!" Ms. Kramer, the principle, said through the microphone. "As you all know this Saturday is graduation-"

She was interrupted as half the auditorium cheered. A small smile enlightened her face.

"Calm down. As I was saying, graduation is Saturday and we have less than 3 days to get everything in order. We are distributing the caps and gowns tomorrow. Please everyone dress appropriately under your gowns. No jeans or tube tops or anything like that! We'd like it to be strictly formal. Now for or speaker, I have chosen Talia Kisaragi."

The auditorium was dead silent.

"Who objects to having that bitch as speaker for our ONLY high school graduation?!?!" A random student yelled out.

Everyone cheered except Roxas. My eyes widened in horror. W-what did I ever do to them? I'm quiet half the time!

"She's a bully! She hurt Kairi! She doesn't deserve to speak! Kairi Nakamura does!" A girl called out. "Who agrees with me?"

Once again the auditorium erupted in cheer.

"Oh yeah, well let's see what Kairi can say encouraging enough to us! Talia can do 10 times better than her!" Roxas stood up, obviously frustrated.

"Roxas… calm down. It's no big deal."

"Yeah Roxas! You better sit down before she beats your ass too!" A guy called out.

"If you all hate Talia because of what she did to Talia, say I!"

Everyone except Roxas said "I" in a heartbeat. I couldn't even explain how I was feeling. I mean… I didn't want people to notice me… but now that they do I don't want them to hate me. Does Sora hate me too? He can't right… because… he's my friend. Friends stick with you through thick and thin right? I can always count on him. He told me that; that day in the park.

"Students settle down. I don't care if you do or do not like Ms. Kisaragi. She is our speaker whether you like it or not!" Principle Kramer said. "Now I dismiss you to your lunch."

Everyone gave me cold and nasty stares as they left the auditorium. Roxas stayed by my side the whole entire time, frowning at anyone who dared to give me a threatening look. I saw Sora walking by himself towards the cafeteria. Leaving Roxas, I ran up to him.

"Sora!"

He stopped and turned around. His smile on his face instantly turned into a frown once he saw me.

"What?" He said. His normally soft but masculine voice sounded harsh and full of hate.

"Erm… hey… what's wrong?" I asked.

"How could you do that?"

"Do what?" I said confused.

"Talia you're smart. Very smart. Don't play dumb with me please. Why'd you do that to Kairi?" He said in a dead serious tone.

"Sora... you actually believed that? I wouldn't lay a finger on her! No one at that!"

"Remember when I said I don't take things lightly when one of my friends messes with another one of my friends? Yeah, well that applies to you. Kairi is my best friend and you're my friend too… but what you did was wrong. I don't even want to talk to you anymore…" With that, he walked away while shaking his head.

That did it. Everyone hated me… even Sora. And I don't think I can handle him hating me. Sora and hate me didn't even fit right in the same sentence. Tears began pouring down my face as I stood there looking like a retard.

"Look she's crying," someone said followed by a bright light.

"Ha ha! Got her picture! Time to put this in the school news paper!" Another person said, causing both of them to laugh and walk away.

I then felt arms wrap around me. I wiped the tears away and turned around to Roxas.

"It's okay…" he said.

"No it's not. Everyone hates me; even Sora!" I cried even more after saying Sora's name.

"I don't hate you…" Roxas said gently.

"I know… and I'm sorry for what I said to you at the carnival."

"It's okay… I was wrong."

"You're always there for me Roxas. Thank you," I smiled slightly at him.

"There's that smile I love to see! And don't worry Tally; I'll always be there for you!" Roxas grinned.

I slowly hugged him back and rested my head on his shoulder for a while. I know… I can always count on Roxas.

~*~*~*~*~

"Riku please, I didn't plan this. Talia really did beat me up!" Kairi frowned at her silver haired friend as they ate their lunch outside, under one of the apple trees. It was the only tree secluded from the outside eating area of the school.

"Okay, so let me touch your eye," Riku smirked.

"Wha-? No! I'm not let you going to get my eye infected!" Kairi yelled at him.

Riku frowned at her. He knew she was lying. IT was one of those things where you could sense something was up with your best friend, or you knew they were lying. Yeah, he was getting one of those vibes right about now.

"How'd you tape that Kairi?"

"I didn't! Hay- I mean a camera guy was filming something already then he was being perverted and was watching me as I walked home then I was attacked by Talia!" Kairi explained.

"How'd you know all these?" Riku arched a brow. Her story seemed right on point.

"The guy told me! Gosh Riku! Stop interrogating me! I'm going to find Sora! He's the only one who cares."

"Hm… that's because he's just gullible like the rest of the school to believe your bullshit Kai."

"Whatever… Riku. Since you think you figured it out. Then yeah, I did frame Talia! So what!?!?! She kissed _my_ man! She can have Roxas! I'm pretty sure he's about to ask her out right about now. Then I'll have Sora to myself."

"Kairi…" Riku started.

"What?!" She glared at him slightly.

"You're a complete bitch."

Kairi smirked at his "compliment" before walking away like nothing was even wrong with her.

~*~*~*~*~

Roxas, Hayner, and Olette sat at their usual lunch table in the cafeteria.

"Why is Talia sitting by herself?" Hayner asked.

"She said something about not wanting to ruin our reputation," Roxas frowned as he watched the blue haired girl eat her lunch slowly.

"What reputation?"

"I can understand that!"

"Hayner!" Olette hit him upside his head.

"What? We _do_ have a reputation though… but still lunch is not that same without Tal."

"Where is Pence?" Roxas asked. He hasn't seen the chubby boy since this morning.

"I don't know. Something about meeting up with Riku or something. I think our little buddy is turning on us for a popular kid too," Hayner frowned as he stuffed down his red jell-o.

"Why isn't Sora going to cheer Tally up?" Olette frowned.

"Don't know…" Roxas turned to look at the brunette at the popular table with Kairi and some other people.

He watched as Sora would occasionally laugh at something someone would say, but he couldn't notice that his eyes were saddened or something. He would also look at Talia and stare at her for a moment before Kairi would gain his attention again. Roxas then turned around to Talia as someone walked passed Talia and then "accidentally" knocking down her drink. Instead of saying sorry they walked away and laughed. Roxas watched as Talia shredded a tear. He then got up and walked over to her.

~*~*~*~*~

"Hey Talia… want some company?"

I looked up at Roxas from my spilt fruit punch.

"Sure…" I let out a sigh.

Roxas took a seat across from my and frowned at my red sticky mess.

"I saw what happened… that was mean."

"Yeah well… oh well. That's life," I shrugged as I rubbed my left eye.

"Talia-"

"Roxas do you still love me?"

"Huh?!?!" He said confused, while blushing madly.

"Do. You. Still. Love. Me?" I said more slowly so he could understand.

"Um yeah! Of course I do… why?"

"I don't know… It's kind of silly…" I laughed slightly to myself.

"What is? Me loving you?"

"No… no, not that. It's just my mom… thinks we're dating. Ha, crazy right?"

Roxas was silent. I pushed a strand of hair out of my face.

"I guess so…" I blew out my breath.

"I don't think… its crazy…" Roxas said slowly.

My head snapped up towards him.

"Oh… well… um… awkward…" I said and forced a smile at him.

"Talia… do you want to go out with me…?"

Okay… for the first time in many years… I actually felt myself blush because of Roxas! This hasn't happened since I was 14 years old!

"You mean like… boyfriend and girlfriend type of stuff?" I asked, just to confirm it.

"No duh," he grinned at me.

"Sure!" I smiled at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah… I mean… like you told me. Maybe its fate," I smiled at him.

He returned the smile to me.

So now it's official… I'm dating Roxas. But I can't seem to get rid of this nagging feeling that I didn't make a right choice.

~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N – Whoa… dating Roxas now are we? Sorry for the long wait! Thanks to those reviews! They gave me encourage to write! So continue to review! Byee 3 oh and only like a few more chapters to go until the end!


	12. Chapter 12

_I'm too sexy for my shirt_

_Too sexy for my shirt_

_So sexy that it hurts_

Sora's head jerked up from his pillow as he reached for his phone. Why the hell was Riku calling him at 3 in the morning on a school night?! He knew it was Riku because a while back Riku stole his phone and set his ringtone to "I'm too sexy" to let Sora know it was him calling. And… that Riku had too much of a big ego.

"Hell-"

"Cussing first thing in the morning Sora?" Riku laughed on the other end of the phone.

"Let. Me. Finish. Hello?" Sora said, still kind of asleep and now slightly annoyed.

"Hey buddy! We have to talk," Riku's tone suddenly got serious.

"Talk? It's 3 in the freaking morning, what possibly do you want to talk about at this hour?" Sora asked in an irritated voice.

"Don't get your panties in a twist. It's about Talia lazy bum."

Sora seemed to perk up a little more after he said that. "Yeah… what about her?"

"It's about her and Kairi."

Sora groaned. "Damn Riku, I don't want to talk about what went down between them two. Now I only have a 3 more hours of sleep before I have to wake up for school-"

"You made her cry Sora," Riku said seriously again as he cut Sora off.

"Huh?" Sora blinked as he pulled the phone away from his ear for a quick second.

"Yeah. She was holding up fine until you had to be a complete ass to her."

"Well… what she did to Kairi is unforgivable."

"Sora… we're all best friends with Kairi. We all know how experienced she is with make-up and know how she has connections with people."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Sora asked Riku, confused.

"Do the math Sora. Oh and before I hang up and let you continue sleeping, I thought I'd let you know, Talia and Roxas or dating now-"

"WHAT-"

"Bye!" Riku hung up at that.

Sora still held the phone to his ear as Riku's words still lingered in his head. Talia… and Roxas… are dating? How could that possibly be? I mean… it wasn't like Talia and Roxas didn't make a cute couple… but Talia… Talia Kisaragi was _his_ girl.

"Wait… what?" Sora said to himself as he just referred to Talia as his girl. Well technically she was Roxas's girl now.

Sora let out another groan. He couldn't take all this right now. First he has a project with Talia do in 2 days and yesterday, while working on it, it was kind of awkward between them. Letting out one last groan, he buried his head in his pillow back into a deep sleep.

~AUL Chap 12~

_Ding dong!_

I looked up over the couch as my dad opened it. He greeted whoever it was and let them inside the house. I instantly saw it was Roxas and a faint smile enlightened my face.

"Hey Tal…" Roxas said, slightly eyeing my dad as he glared at him. "Er… ready for school?"

"Yeah-"

"ROXAS!! HI SWEETIE!"

My father and I let out a groan as Roxas looked horrified as my mom came sliding down the stairwell and jumping off it, landing perfectly in front of him.

I swear my mom is some secret ninja.

"Hi hun! Strawberry or chocolate?" She asked him with a notepad and pen in hand.

"Don't answer that!" I quickly jumped in.

"Tally I have to plan your wedding!"

"Wedding?" Roxas turned to me.

"Don't ask. Let's just go," I grabbed my backpack and grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door before my mom could question him anymore.

"You weren't joking when you said your mom was planning our wedding, were you?" He asked as we walked, hand in hand, to school together.

"I told you I was serious sweetie," I smiled at him. I stared at him as he blushed slightly.

"What?" I asked him.

"Eh… nothing. You just um…"

"Called you sweetie? We're dating. I'm not going to call you Roxas all the time… unless," I smirked at him, "You want me to call you _Roxie-poo_?"

"No! Sweetie is fine! Anything but _that_!" Roxas frowned at me which caused me to laugh.

"So um… are you afraid to go to school because of what happened yesterday?"

"Nah not really. I'm 18 Roxas. Those silly things don't bother me anymore. Besides… I'll be going to Atlantica soon…"

Roxas got quiet. I tensed up. I forgot the subject about me going to Atlantica for college was a big issue for my friends. They wanted me to go to Twilight University with them (Excluding Olette, she's going to Radiant Tech).

"We haven't really talked about what's going to happen after graduation… have we?" I asked, unsurely on how he was going to respond.

"We all know what's going to happen. That Thursday you're going on the plane to Atlantica then Olette will be leaving the next day to Radiant Garden."

"Ugh… It's not like I want to leave you guys! But… in order to fulfill my dreams of becoming a doctor, then I must go to the school where most famous doctors got their education from!"

Roxas sighed as we walked up towards the school building, meeting up with Hayner and the rest of the guys.

"Well well well, if it isn't the lovely couple, Taloxas!" Hayner cooed.

"Taloxas?" Roxas raised a brow at him.

"More like Haynette!" I smirked at him as I let go of Roxas's hand and went to chatter away with Olette.

"Ohhh, would you like some ice for that burn Hayner?" Pence smirked.

"Shut up tubby!" Hayner shouted at the short fat boy.

Pence shrugged and took out a bar of chocolate from his back pocket and started munching away. Roxas rolled his eyes as they landed on Sora, Kairi, and Riku walking this way.

"Hey um… maybe we should move… we're blocking the entrance." Pence said, not wanting to cause trouble.

"Why-"

"Well if it isn't the geeks!"

Damn that voice. I've so grown to hate that voice of her's.

I turned away from Olette as we all looked at Kairi and her friends. I forced my eyes not to travel off to Sora.

"Why are you guys hanging out with this low-life? Do you even see my eye? Roxas, dear, glad things worked out."

"Kairi don't go there…"

"Oh don't worry… I won't. I still haven't got mines yet," Kairi smirked at the gang.

"Yours?" I blinked.

"Oh… that's right…" Kairi smirked as she started to walk towards me.

She walked up and whispered in my ear, "You have Roxas… so that means I can have Sora… right?"

I pushed her away a little and looked up to Sora. He looked back at me with a blank look. We stared at each other for a while. I felt my heart beating tremendously but ignored it. He was a part of Kairi's crew; one of the popular kids. I realize that now. He was just the same as them. I guess… he thought it'd be funny to play a mean joke on a nerd like me and pretend he liked me.

I blinked away my tears as I slowly glared back at Sora as he looked offended for a second. I then turned around, away from Kairi.

I grabbed Roxas's hand. "Come on… let's leave… we don't need to associate with bitches like them."

With that, my friends and I walked into the school building.

~AUL Chap 12~

Kairi smirked as she watched Talia and her friends walk into the school.

"Kai… what you say to her? Thought you wouldn't talk to her anymore after what she did to you…" Sora looked at Kairi as she turned around with a startled look on her face.

"What she did to me – I mean – yeah I guess! But I have to let her know I'm not afraid of her!" Kairi grinned nervously at him.

Riku shook his head and shifted his backpack onto his shoulder more.

"Hey, so I'm going to class. Sora… don't forget what I told you this morning," With that, Riku walked into the school building.

Kairi blinked up at Sora. "What did he tell you this morning?"

"Something about you being an expert at applying make-up," Sora shrugged.

Kairi's eyes widened. "That bitch…"

"What?" Sora's attention quickly snapped to Kairi.

"Oh… er… nothing, see you later!"

Sora watched as Kairi waltzed into the school. He stood there, thinking about what Kairi had just said.

Kairi…

Make-up expert…

Talia…

Fighter…

Riku…

Serious…

Sora just couldn't understand how all this was falling into place. None of this made sense to him, and he really didn't want to have any high school drama on his last few days of high school.

Tousling his hair, Sora let out a sigh and walked into the school just as the bell rung.

~AUL Chap 12~

I sat in History class with Mr. Marluxia. 4 years of high school and I still couldn't figure out if his natural hair color was really pink and if he really was gay as I've heard rumors. Gay or not gay, he's still one of the best teachers here!

"Now class, please partner up with your partners and continue working on your project!" Mr. Marluxia said as he went back to his desk to do whatever.

I let out a silent sigh and walked up to Sora with books and paper in my hand.

He looked up at me as I pushed a seat next to his desk. I didn't say anything to him nor did he to me as I organized my stuff.

Finally, after sitting in my seat looking like a complete retard for a whole minute, I cleared my throat and looked up at him.

"Hey…"

"Hi…"

Awkward silence much?

"So… guess we should start…?" He asked.

"Sure… you can go first… my history is kind of long."

"Nah, ladies first. Plus… I think we should do the one with the shortest history last."

Okay… the awkwardness was slowly letting up. Thank God.

"Hm… okay…" I sighed.

I watched as he got out his paper and got into a writing position.

"Okay… start!"

"Well… my name is Talia Arisa Kisaragi. My birthday is June 8. I'm 18 years old. I'm a soon-to-be graduate at Destiny High School. I live in Twilight Town which is a bright sunny town not too far away from here. Um… I'm originally from Atlantica… or at least my mother is-"

"Ha… guess that explains your blue hair. Only certain people from Atlantica have blue hair."

"Yeah…"

"Hey… so does that mean… your mom is actually still 24 years old?"

"Yeah… you're talking about that skip 2 year birthday thing."

"So does that mean… you're really 16?"

"No… my mom married a non-Atlantican, so it didn't apply to me; just her and the rest of the family on her side."

"Oh… well continue."

"Um… when all the countries went into war, my mom moved to Hollow Bastion, now Radiant Garden, where she met my father. Then they fell in love and a couple years later I was born. Then my parents decided a dangerous place like Hollow Bastion wasn't safe for a young newborn like me, so that night after I was born, they snuck away to Destiny Islands with me. By the time I was 4, my dad left us for unknown reasons, but would occasionally visit. Then I moved to Twilight Town at the age 12. And… so basically I've been living up till now."

Sora smiled slightly at me. My eyes widened as I looked down to the floor as I felt a blush appearing.

"So… what's your life story?" I asked quietly.

"Eh… nothing special. My name is Sora Ven Akamura. Born December 14th. Lived in Destiny Islands my whole life. My mom owns a hotel and my dad is in the Kingdom Hearts military, so I rarely see him. My parents expect different things from me. My mom wants me to be the heir to her hotel and my dad wants me to join the army with him…"

I blinked at him. He tilted his head cutely to the side.

"What?"

"… Um I know we're not on good terms right now… but what do _you_ want to do?"

"I want to be a traveler! I hate staying in one place too long! But you can always count on me to come back to where I originally come from! I want to help those who need help in other countries!"

"Is there such a job?"

"I don't know Ms. Doctor. But I'll make it happen one way or the other!" He grinned at me. I blushed at him.

I quickly straightened up. I won't fall for his "popular charm" again. He already got me once to shoot me back down. I won't let that happen again.

"Continue…" I said with my voice a little sharper.

"Ok… so I met my best friend, Riku Tetsuya, in kindergarten and we've been best friends every since. Then when I was 7, Kairi moved to Destiny Islands and we became best friends too. Ha… I remember Riku and I used to fight for her attention. Then… er…" He suddenly paused.

"What?"

"I met you…"

My eyes widened. I felt my heart stop completely.

Letting out an awkward cough, I turned to him. "Er… I think I have enough information. I'll call you if I need anymore info. So um… yeah."

"Hey… Talia…"

I turned back around to look at him.

He gave me a weak smile, "Congrats for you and Roxas."

I nodded awkwardly and headed back to my seat. My emotions sure pick the wrong time to come up. Why I have to be partnered up with him of all people? I would rather be partnered up with Xion!

I looked over at the emo girl. She had her legs crossed, while biting away at her nail which I could tell was long gone, and reading a book about "Sacrifices." She had on the school uniform (For once) but had her white blouse unbuttoned to reveal a dark purple shirt with a skull with blood running out of its eyes on the front. Black bracelets covered her right arm while her left arm had a black fingerless elbow-length glove on it.

I shivered a little.

Actually… I think I'm grateful to have Sora as my partner.

~AUL Chap 12~

Kairi tapped her pen on her desk impatiently as her Health class seemed to go by very slow. She was dreading to go to lunch and make sure nothing happened between Sora and Talia. After all, they were partners for that history project and plus… Sora loves her. Even if he is mad at her right now, Kairi knows he still has strong deep feelings for her.

Thinking of that, Kairi tightened her grip on her pen and glared at nothing in particular.

"Kairi… um… we need to talk…"

Kairi's grip loosened up and she turned to see Roxas standing above her, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"What blondie? I helped you to get your girl, my business with you is done," Kairi frowned at him.

"Yeah… but you see… I think Talia loves…"

"Don't say it. If you do, I'll…" Kairi shifted her eyes before pulling Roxas close to her face in a promising position, "Frame you just like I did with your nerdy girlfriend."

"Um… was I interrupting something?" Came a shy voice from behind Roxas.

Roxas quickly pulled away to turn to a blonde haired girl with big blue eyes. She held her books close to her chest and looked from Kairi to Roxas in a confused look.

"Of course not Nami! I was just telling Roxas here a secret!" Kairi clasped her hands together and smiled innocently at her blonde haired friend.

"Er…" Naminé looked up at Roxas, "Hi… I'm Naminé."

Roxas blinked a couple times before realizing the beautiful blonde was talking to him.

"Eh… yeah… I'm Roxas."

Naminé's eyes then widened as a grin came onto her face.

"I've heard about you! You're the struggle champion over at Twilight Town! I can't believe you actually go to _my_ school… oh… sorry… you must think I'm some start of crazy fan, don't you?" Naminé's shining eyes glimmered down.

Roxas chuckled a little. "You're cute."

Naminé blushed tremendously while ignoring Kairi's grunts.

"Okay Roxas… don't you have to go take your girlfriend to lunch or something? Stop harassing my friend," Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Oh… sorry to keep you… tell Talia I said hi please…" Naminé smiled sweetly at Roxas and went to sit next beside Kairi, who instantly started chattering away with her.

Roxas watched for a moment as Naminé would occasionally nod her head to agree to whatever Kairi was saying. At each nod, her hair would fall slightly into her face, which she gently pushed behind her ear.

"Yo dude, let's start headin' to Talia's class!" Hayner slapped Roxas on his back hard.

"Er… yeah…" Roxas nodded his head and walked out the classroom with Hayner.

~AUL Chap 12~

So far school was exactly how I suspected. Everyone was still treating my cruelly, but most of them decided to just ignore me and give me mean stares behind my back. I was now sitting at lunch, drinking my usual cappuccino, while waiting for my boyfriend and my friends to arrive.

"Hey… can I sit here?"

I looked up to where the masculine voice came from. I was surprised to see it was Riku, and beside him was Pence.

"Um… sure? Hey Pence!" I smiled at my chubby friend.

"Hey Tally," Pence and Riku took a seat across from me.

I watched as Riku picked at his meatloaf and Pence sipped on his milk.

"So… what did you guys wanna talk about?" I asked them.

"Well… it's about Sora…" Riku shrugged a little. Pence just nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah… what about him? We're not cool anymore…" I said sadly.

"Well… Talia… we know that… and we know why…" Pence said. He knew what he was about to tell Talia was going to make her mad, but it was for her own good.

"Of course! Everyone in the school knows why! Supposedly I beat up Kairi," I rolled m eyes as I said Kairi's name.

"No… it was part of a plan… involving people really _really_ close to you…" Pence then zipped his lips and turned towards Riku.

"Okay… so what really happened Talia… is that this was all Kairi's plan from the beginning. Along with your friends. They were out to break you and Sora apart from each other. Kairi wanted Sora to herself and your friends wanted you to date Roxas. Pence and I were dragged around on each of your little dates with Sora. Every mishap that happened on your date was our fault. Finally, last Friday, Pence and I decided to break apart and team up with each other so we can stop then-"

"We personally think you and Sora are cute together!" Pence cut Riku off.

Riku gave him a look that said "Couldn't you have said that in a way that didn't sound so gay?" Pence just simply shrugged.

"Anyway… so Kairi hired this look alike of you and had her beat her up and Hayner, Roxas, and Olette were the ones who recorded the whole thing." Riku let out a deep breath that let me know he was finished speaking.

"Well…" I let out a sigh.

"Well what?" Pence said with hope in his voice.

"The damage is done. I'm dating Roxas now and I'm cool with it. Kairi can have Sora. Pretty sure he still loves her anyway-"

I stopped talking as Riku stood up with a pissed off look on his face. He glared at me harshly.

"So that's it?!? You're just gonna forget Sora?! You're gonna leave Sora for Roxas?!? For a nerd…" Riku laughed a harsh little laugh, "You sure are blind when it comes to things like this."

With that, Riku walked off. I blinked as Pence quickly followed behind the tall silver haired young man. What did he mean… I was blind when it came to things like this?

"Hey Tally, what's wrong? You look like something is bothering you," Roxas sat beside me and kissed my cheek. I blinked at the sudden reaction.

"Uh… yeah… just fine," I faked a smile to him. "Hey… Roxas…"

"What?"

"You wouldn't… break up a friendship between 2 people would you because you felt jealous? You wouldn't go out and follow the people around and cause mishaps between them would you… just so you could date the girl?" I asked him, a dead serious look on my face.

He gulped nervously and gave me a shaky smile. "Er… of course not… I wouldn't do that… that's just cruel."

"Very cruel…" I agreed.

"Where's that coming from anyway?"

"Just… heard something…" I smiled a little at him.

"Oh… okay," He smiled back.

~AUL Chap 12~

Sora walked home from school with Kairi on his right side and Riku on his left. Sora was looking down at the ground with a sad look on his face as he thought about what happened between Talia and him today.

No matter how much he told himself at night since the accident with Kairi that he didn't love Talia anymore; his heart just didn't want to accept the fact.

He still loved Talia Kisaragi, but she's dating Roxas. She's moved on… if he could even say that. He knows what she did was wrong, but… maybe he should of confronted her about it instead on just yelling at her saying "Don't talk to me anymore."

"Sora, sweetie what's wrong?" Kairi smiled brightly at her friend. She would finally have him. After all these years. Sora Akamura would finally get together with Kairi, graduate high school and college together, get jobs, get married, move into a beautiful home out in Agrabah, have 3-5 children, and die old and peacefully together. Kairi smirked at her life plan. Mrs. Kairi Akamura had a nice ring to it.

Much better than Mrs. Talia Akamura. Kairi frowned as the name popped into her head.

"Just… thinking…" Sora looked down at his redheaded friend.

"Well don't hurt yourself!" Kairi grinned at him.

Riku looked out at the corner of his eye as Kairi grabbed onto Sora's arm and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked together. Riku scoffed at the scene which caused Kairi to give him death glares. Riku then notice the blackness around Kairi's supposedly "black eye" was gone. It was her normal skin color.

"Hey… Kairi… how'd your eye heal so fast?" Riku asked Kairi all innocently.

"H-huh? What are you talking about Riku? It still hurts like hell!" Kairi said all panicky. She thought she re-applied the make-up after her quick shower after P.E.

Sora looked at Kairi's eye.

"Yeah… it is gone…" Sora blinked at the girl as he continued to stare at her un-harmed eye.

"_We all know how experienced she is with make-up and know how she has connections with people."_

Wait… everything was coming together now. Kairi and her "black eye" and Riku's word about her being a make-up expert and now that Sora thought about it, he remembered Kairi had a cousin who looked _exactly_ like Talia from behind, named Aqua. If you looked her in the front, you could easily tell the difference between the two. The video sure didn't seem to show "Talia's" face in the video. Not even once.

Sora then pulled his arm harshly away from Kairi.

"W-what?" Kairi looked up at Sora, worried.

"Cut the damn act Kairi. Why would you do that? Do you know what you even did to Talia?!? You caused her to cry-"

"Actually… you made her cry," Riku added in.

"Not helping Riku, but Kairi, that was wrong! You took advantage of our friendship and just knew I'd believe you over Talia. I'm so fucking gullible! You made me hurt the girl… I… I…"

"You love?" Kairi said in a hushed voice.

Sora's tension suddenly decreased dramatically. "Yeah… I _love_. I do love her. More than anything. But… it's too late now! I've lost her by listening to you! Tell me Kairi, why in the world should I continue to be your friend?"

"Because… you still love me as a friend. I understand that now. I'm sorry… I'll go to school tomorrow and tell everyone the truth…"

Sora looked Kairi in her eyes and saw that she was about to burst out in tears. Sora's guilt for yelling at the fragile girl started building up in him. He instantly grabbed the girl and hugged her tightly.

"If you were jealous… you could have just told me! I would have spent time with you too! You didn't have to go out and do this to ruin Talia's reputation and our friendship," Sora stroked Kairi's back gently.

Riku watched with a disgusted face on.

"I'm sorry… I'll apologize to her tomorrow," Kairi said as she hugged Sora back.

Riku's eyebrow rose as he saw a smirk appear on Kairi's face. She noticed he caught her smirk and winked at. She was planning something again.

"I'll make everything between Talia and I cool again… she'll be just _fine_," Kairi smirked.

She _always_ had a plan B.

~AUL Chap 12~

A/N: Kairi just doesn't know when to give up, does she? Lol… at least Sora knows the truth now, but what about Talia? She's just one big ball of confusion right now! Thanks to all my reviewers! You are the ones who give me courage to write the next chapter! Hope you liked it!


	13. Chapter 13

"Day 3 of dating Roxas, so how does it feel Talia?" Hayner asked with a grin on his face as we walked to school together.

"Its fine," I smiled at the blonde.

"Have you kissed yet?" Olette smiled dreamily.

"Have you kissed Hayner yet?" Pence frowned at Olette. I shot him a look. He shook his head at me and walked ahead of the rest of us.

"Is it me… or has Pence been moody around us lately?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah… almost like he's on his period," Hayner snickered at his own joke only to be hit upside the head by Olette.

"Maybe Pence is stressed out about graduation, what do you think Talia?" Olette turned her attention to me.

I stared as my chubby friend walked away. I know why he was upset… he knew I didn't believe what he and Riku told me yesterday. I looked at my friends. They wouldn't break Sora and I apart just to get Roxas a hook-up with me… right?

"Talia? Earth to Tally-Chan!" Roxas waved a hand in my face.

"Don't call me that!" I snapped on him.

Everyone stopped walking and turned around to stare at me. I looked at them with a shocked expression as I realized I just yelled at my boyfriend.

"Sorry… it's just… don't call me that…" I whispered.

"Why?" Hayner arched a brow.

"Because…"

_Sora gave me that nickname._

"Don't worry about it! C'mon! Let's get to school before we're late!" I threw on a fake smile and started running towards the school.

My friends just stared at me as I ran off.

"What was that about?" Hayner crossed his arms and turned to Roxas.

"I don't know… she's been acting weird since yesterday," Roxas let out a sigh.

"Maybe I should invite her over to my house for a sleep over so I can see what's wrong with her," Olette suggested.

"Yeah…"

~AUL Chap 13~

Sora smiled to himself as he saw the young blue haired woman walk into the classroom. She wore a blue tank top under her white button up blouse uniform shirt. The white blouse was unbuttoned all the way, clearly showing the blue shirt. With that, she wore a black skirt with white flip flops. Her hair was in its usual straight but slightly curly manor.

He smiled as the girl sat beside him.

"Er… hey…" Sora nervously said to the girl next to him.

She stopped doing what she was doing for a second to try to focus on who was speaking to her.

"Talia…"

"Oh! Hey…" She gave him a weak smile.

Sora let out a sigh. She probably thinks he was still upset with her.

"Um… so… finish the project?" No! He did _not_ mean to say that.

"Er… yeah," Talia looked at him awkwardly. "Um… did you?"

"Yeah…" Sora said slowly.

"Okay then…" And with that, Talia went back to doing whatever she was doing.

Gosh, apologizing to the girl you love is more difficult than it seemed. Maybe once Kairi apologizes, everything will be easier to do.

~AUL Chap 13~

"Let's see… who likes to spread rumors around this school…" Kairi tapped her chin thoughtfully.

Just as Kairi finished saying that, a bouncy brunette came hopping over to the thinking redhead.

"HI KAIRI!" Selphie yelled in Kairi's face.

Kairi smirked at her brunette friend. Selphie wasn't popular, but she would do _anything_ to become one of them. The young girl wore the school uniform with some jeans under her blue plaid uniform skirt and a black vest over her white blouse. A blue plaid tie hung loosely around her neck.

"Hey Selph… think you can keep a secret?" Kairi smirked at her hyper friend.

"Yeah! Sure!" Selphie suddenly got close to Kairi so she could hear the secret.

"Okay… so…"

"NO WAY!"

Kairi smirked at her reaction.

~AUL Chap 13~

"Students please form a straight line to get your caps and gown. Now please take care of your gowns until Saturday, and we ask that you please leave your cap in the plastic wrapping until Saturday. Remember, blue gown and white cap means average academic level throughout the entire high school year and white gown and blue cap means over-achiever academic level. Please do not fuss with the class presidents, they know what colors go to who," Principle Kramer explained.

I looked to see if I could find at least one decent line to stand in. Already, almost every line was outside into the hall. I let out a sigh, and went to the back of the line.

"Hey Talia! Up here! Feel free to cut us!"

I looked at the boy who called out to me. Hey… wasn't he the kid who called me a bitch the other day? What is he trying to do? Trick me into something?

"Um… no thanks!" I faked a smile.

"Aw c'mon!" He got out of his spot and grabbed my arm, dragging me almost all the way to the front of the line.

"Er… I don't feel comfortable cutting…" I said uneasily.

"No prob Tal, its ok."

Tal? I don't even know this guy and he's calling me by my nickname? Like seriously how do you go from bitch to calling me Tal?

He walked away after he placed me in the line. I blinked at how close I was in the line. Then I noticed… I was near all the popular kids.

"Talia! Hi hun!"

I knew that damned voice. I slowly turned around and frowned at the redhead behind me, along with a shy Naminé right behind her.

"Listen… sorry about the other day sweetie. No harm done, right?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm dumb Kairi. Stop your act. You may be able to fool Sora and the rest of them, but you can't fool me. I'm not that gullible," I frowned at the girl.

She simply laughed and placed an arm on my shoulder. "Oh Talia, don't take that to any harm. I told everyone the truth and everything is good now! Sora even knows the truth! Aren't you guys' friends again?"

"Huh…?"

Kairi tilted her head slightly with a confused look on her face, "Um… Sora didn't apologize to you yet? Oh dear… he must not have forgiven you yet. He must not have believed me when I told him the truth… did you happen to do anything else to him?"

"Um… no…"

"Well… maybe he just wants to leave you alone now. After all… he did confess yesterday," Kairi smiled slightly to herself.

Confess? What exactly… did he confess?

"Confess?" I asked.

"Oh… you haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" I asked Kairi.

Naminé looked at me with eyes that said she wanted to tell me something, but Kairi cut off our eye contact by stepping in between us.

"Yesterday, after school, Sora confessed his feelings for me. Turns out he never did stop loving me. I guess he only told me he loved you because he didn't want his true feelings to show. Oh dear… I hope you didn't fall for him…?" Kairi asked with fake worry in her voice.

I blinked at the redhead. My heart had felt like it sunk to my stomach and I was feelings dizzy. It felt like I was in some sort of nightmare and Kairi was the cause of it.

But… why did I feel like this? I mean… I don't love Sora. I love Roxas, of course. No one else… but… him.

"Next!" The class president stared at me.

I shook what Kairi said to me out of my head as I turned around to face the class president.

She looked up at me and smiled, "Name please?"

"Um… Talia Kisaragi…" I said.

"Okay, one moment," she smiled and went in the back to look for my gown.

"Did you Talia? Did you fall for Sora? If you did… then you broke our promise…" Kairi smirked behind my back.

"I… I don't break promises," I whispered quietly.

Kairi's smirked widened. "Good, so you wouldn't mind if I went out with him and kiss him and all that stuff. I mean… you are dating Roxas after all. I pray that your relationship with him isn't one-sided-"

"It's not!" I snapped at her.

Kairi smirked at my reaction. She knew that this time… finally, she's won. Now for her just to manipulate Sora into dating her, everything would be fine. And since Talia "loves" Roxas, then she shouldn't be an interference in their relationship ever again.

Naminé frowned at her best friend. She knew for a fact Kairi was lying. How could Talia not see Kairi's lies? Naminé knew Sora didn't love Kairi, and if he did, it was nothing but a brother/sister love. Sora loved Talia more than anything.

Naminé made sure to bring up the subject at Olette's sleepover tonight. Olette wanted to get some information out her best friend too.

"Here you go!" The class president returned.

I thanked her and took my white gown and blue hat. I quickly rushed out the line past Kairi without looking back.

So much for no drama on the last week of school.

~AUL Chap 13~

School was over pretty soon. I was now at home in my room lying upside down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I just couldn't shake the fact that Sora and Kairi were _dating_. I mean… I shouldn't care about them though.

_When you walk away_

_You don't hear me say_

_Please, oh~ baby, don't go_

_Simple and Clean_

I picked up my phone without looking at the caller I.D.

"Hello?"

"BABE!" I heard an overly excited voice on the phone.

"Um… who is this?" I asked the mysterious caller.

"The great ninja Yuffie!"

A smile enlightened my face, "Yuffie! Hi cuz!"

"Hi hon! Guess what!" Yuffie said excitedly over the phone.

"Um… you discovered Leon is some sort of drag queen in disguise?" I asked, laughing gently to myself.

"Hey kid! I can hear you!" I heard a man's voice on the other end.

"Yuffers… you got me on speaker, don't you?" I laughed into the phone.

"Of course Tally Mark! But anyway, no that's not it!"

"Then what is it?"

"Leon and I will be there tomorrow afternoon for your graduation! So make sure you prepare the guest room!" Yuffie said excitedly on the phone.

"Gee… that's nothing to be excited over," I joked.

"Whatever Tally Mark, deal with it. So how's the last week of high school so far?"

"Eh, not so great. I'm trying desperately not to let the popular kids bother me, but so far it's working."

"Huh? They never messed with you before. Even Aerith and Tifa?"

"Tifa better not be bothering you!" I heard Leon say.

"No, they're not. It's just their leader, Kairi. I've been hanging with Sora and she loves him I guess and so she's been spreading rumors and shit," I sighed.

"Hey! No cussing young lady!" Leon yelled through the phone.

"Take a chill pill, Leon, she's 18. She's legal," Yuffie fussed at her fiancé.

"You guys sure know how to make me feel better," I laughed.

"Well anyways Tal, don't worry about that chicka! She hasn't yet felt the wrath of the Kisaragi family! Which, I'll gladly show her when I get down there tomorrow. Now, my dear cousin, I must part with you for now. Love you more than Leon-"

"Hey!"

"Shut it. Anyway, love you Talia and see you tomorrow!"

"Bye Yuffie!" And with that I hung up the phone from my crazy cousin.

Yuffie and Leon have been with me since middle school. I could always count on those two to make me feel better.

"_Turns out he never did stop loving me. I guess he only told me he loved you because he didn't want his true feelings to show."_

I just couldn't seem to get what Kairi said out of my head. And what's worse, I don't even know why I feel this way. I shouldn't care that Sora loves Kairi and not me. Like Roxas told me last week, maybe its fate or something. Kairi and Sora belong together… and I belong with Roxas.

I frowned at my theory. There was just this part of me that didn't want to agree with me at all. Every time I tell myself I love Roxas, that voice just keeps repeating "Stop lying to yourself" and all that other stuff.

My phone began to ring again, bringing me out of my thinking phase. I grabbed it and answered.

"Hello?"

"Sleepover. My house. Now," was all Olette said.

"Maybe another time Olette, I'm not into it," I sighed.

"Uh yeah you're coming. Naminé is here and you have to come too. So get your lazy butt out of your depression mood and come to my house. You have a key, let yourself in. See you later!" I blinked as I heard the line go dead on the other end.

Well… guess I know what I'm doing tonight. Gee, and I was looking forward to watching TV while eating some cookie dough ice cream. So much for my plan of eating away my depression.

Which reminds me… why am I depressed anyway?

Shaking my head, I grabbed one of the many bags I had out of my closet and stuffed my school uniform and some lime green shorts with a simple white tank top. I put all my womanly needs into their, along with my toothbrush and comb.

I sighed as I walked down the stairs, about to walk out the front door.

"Where you going?" I heard my father's voice.

"I'm spending the night with Olette. See you tomorrow," I said simply before opening the door.

"Wait, aren't you going to ask your mother? Plus, isn't it a school night?" My father said.

Here he goes, over protective mode again.

"Mom knows I do this all time, plus so? It's the last week of school," I shrugged.

"Still you should ask…"

I blew the breath from my mouth before taking a deep one.

"MOM CAN I GO SPEND THE NIGHT AT OLETTE'S HOUSE?" I yelled, causing my father to cover his ears from the sudden outburst.

"WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME? DON'T YOU USUALLY JUST GRAB THE KEY SHE GAVE YOU AND WALK RIGHT ON OUT? I REALLY DON'T CARE! HAVE FUN BABE!" My mother yelled from upstairs.

I placed a hand on my hip and rolled my head to my father, whose mouth was literally on the ground.

"So yeah, see you tomorrow," I grinned and quickly walked out the door.

"HEY ALANA…" Vincent yelled upstairs.

"What?" She asked as she came down the stairs.

"You really need to work on your parenting skills…" Vincent rubbed his temples.

Alana smirked and stuck her tongue out at him before skipping into the kitchen.

"She is so… childish," Vincent chuckled to himself.

~AUL Chap 13~

I arrived at Olette's house no sooner or later. Unlocking the door with my key, I walked right on in.

"Hi Mrs. Takashi!" I smiled at Olette's mom.

"Talia… you're like family. I told you stop introducing me so formally," she rolled her eyes at me.

I grinned before running upstairs to Olette's room.

Olette's room had orange walls with yellow polka dots on it. She had a king sized bed and large orange canopy over it. It was almost a simple teenage girl's room except for the fact Olette had a game room connected to her room. Yeah… she's a gaming freak.

One of the many reasons why I love her!

"Hi Tals! Bout time you arrived!" Olette took my stuff and tossed it on the bed, just barely missing Naminé who was sitting on the bed.

"Hey Olette, hi Naminé," I smiled at the two.

"Okay ladies, let's go change into our pjs then come go downstairs to the lounge. We have lots of stuff to do!" Olette smiled before skipping to her walk-in closet and closing it shut.

"Um… where's the bathroom?" Naminé asked sweetly.

How could such a sweet girl like her be best friends to a bitch like Kairi? I guess as those Tootsie Roll lollipop commercials say, "The world may never know."

"Oh you can use the bathroom in here," I pointed to a closed door near Olette's bed.

"Thanks," Naminé grabbed her stuff and headed towards the bathroom.

I grabbed my stuff and walked into the hallway to the bathroom out there. Closing the door behind me, I slipped out of my regular clothes and into my pajamas. They were simple. Some black short shorts and a yellow spaghetti tank top. I slipped my feet into my white fuzzy bunny slippers and left the bathroom.

I walked back into Olette's room and placed my stuff back on her bed before making my ways downstairs.

Down in the lounge was a coffee table piled up with junk food. I smiled as 3 big pillows laid on the floor, one pink, one yellow, and the other purple. Naminé nor Olette had came downstairs yet, so I grabbed myself a fist full of popcorn and popped myself down on the yellow pillow.

"Awwe isn't your pajamas cute," I cooed as Naminé came down the stairs.

"Ah, shut up," She blushed.

She wore white t-shirt with a picture of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse on it holding hands. Her shorts were styled similar to Mickey Mouse's.

She came over and sat beside me on the purple pillow. We just sat there talking about random things until Olette finally came down.

"Okay, let's start this party girls'!" Olette announced.

Olette wore a simple orange night gown. She came over and plopped herself on the pink pillow, grabbing a can of soda from the table.

"So, first we gonna talk about our past relationships and why we broke up or they broke up with us!" Olette said as she opened her soda.

"Wow… Olette… why?" I asked skeptically.

"Because it's a sleepover, and what's a sleepover without talking about boys, makeup, and boys?" Olette grinned at me.

Naminé and I glanced at each other before shaking our heads in shame.

"Nami, you're first!" Olette grinned.

"Why?" She asked quietly.

"Because, you're Naminé! Duh!" Olette smirked.

Naminé let out a heavy sigh, "Fine…"

"Okay, go ahead!"

"Well my first boyfriend was in 9th grade. It was…" Naminé looked over at me, "Sora."

The mention of Sora's name made me tense. I saw the look Naminé was giving me, asking for permission if she should continue. I nodded at her with a slight smile. Why does it bother me so much if she did date Sora? It's not like I care…

"Okay, we dated until 10th grade, because that's when I realized Kairi actually liked him. I gave him up because Kairi was my best friend and I didn't want to hurt her." Naminé explained.

"You're too nice sometimes Naminé," Olette smiled.

"Do you… still…?" I asked quietly.

"Oh," Naminé giggled knowingly, "No Tally, I don't. Sora is nothing but my guy friend now. No feelings go out towards him anymore."

Olette looked as my face brightened up slightly. She smiled a little at my somewhat happy face.

"My next boyfriend was at the end of 10th grade to the end of 11th grade, which was Riku. Riku and I had too much drama in between due to his fan girls and stuff, so we called it off. So up till now, I've been single!" Naminé smiled.

"Aw, well I'm next!" Olette grinned.

"Olette… you've never had a boyfriend before though…" I said.

"Yeah I did…"

"When? Why you never tell me this?" I arched a brow at her.

"I had a boyfriend in kindergarten, duh!" Olette started laughing, causing Naminé and I to join in.

"Okay, ha ha, Talia. Your turn."

"Okay… well the only boyfriend I've had is Seifer. We started dating in 6th grade and like maybe two weeks ago broke up," I shrugged.

"Seifer was a jerk. None of the popular kids liked him," Naminé frowned.

"I agree with that Nami," Olette nodded her head.

"Yeah well you know me, blinded by love."

"We know." Naminé and Olette said in unison.

"What? What you mean by that?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing at all. So Nami, who do you currently like?" Olette took a sip of her now almost empty can of soda.

"Can't say…" Naminé said quietly.

"Aw c'mon! We won't tell anyone!" Olette grinned.

"I can give you guys' hints!" Naminé smiled at her idea.

"Sure! That sounds like fun!" I agreed.

"Well okay… let's just say he can fight very well and has one a competition for it several years in a row. Can you figure it out?" Naminé smiled.

"Um… what grade is he in?" Olette asked.

"12th grade. He goes to our school too."

"Can you give us another hint?" I asked, obviously confused.

"He can sing," Naminé smiled.

"Whelp, its no one I know. I don't know a guy who can sing," I smiled at her.

"Me neither," Olette gave up too.

"Ha ha, you'll figure it out one day… so Tally… um… if you don't mind me asking… I've heard from people that… you kissed Sora…"

I got quiet then. I blinked at Naminé as the memories of Sora and I kissing came back to my mind.

"Um… yeah… on accident… why?" I asked nervously.

"Did you feel anything during the kiss?" Olette asked?

… Did I feel anything during the kiss? I remember it being so surprising, but I can't remember feeling anything. And… if I did, how could I tell?

"Um… no, not of what I can remember…" I said.

Olette let out a sigh. She decided it was time to get down to the serious stuff. The real reason why she decided to have a sleepover at the last minute.

"Talia… do you love Sora?"

I abruptly started choking on nothing in particular. My face turned tomato red as I kept coughing. Naminé came over to pat me gently on my back.

"Um… n-"

"Wait!" Naminé called out, "Before you answer… think for a minute. All those times you guys had together and stuff. How he made you feel. All of those things."

"W-why do you guys wanna know in the first place?" I asked.

"Please," Olette pleaded. "We need to know…"

~AUL Chap 13~

(Flash Back Time!)

_"Oh, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." Sora apologized._

_She waved her hand to tell him it was okay. "No, it's my fault. Olette told me I should stop tying my shoe in the middle of the hall."_

_Olette? That name sounded too familiar to Sora. Wasn't she that girl that always hung out with Roxas? She also had an obsession with flowers didn't she?_

_"Oh it's okay. By the way, I'm Sora," He held out his hand for her to shake._

_"I'm Talia," She nodded his head to him._

~AUL Chap 13~

_"Hi!" I looked up at the person who just spoke to me. My eyes met blue ones._

_"Hey…Sora." I looked back down the scattered papers in front of me._

_"Last minute homework," He sat across from me._

_"Not really. My boyfriend and his friends didn't understand the problems…so I'm doing it for them." I shrugged._

_"Like being used," He asked me._

_I abruptly looked up at him. "No…"_

_"Yes." Sora said._

_"What makes you say that?" I questioned him._

_"Well, he didn't understand the homework. He should have told the teacher to help him instead of asking you to do it for him. And he probably did something to make you say yes to do it for him. Right?"_

_"Yeah." I thought about the kiss he gave me before leaving. "You're right."_

_"I know," He grinned at me._

_I giggled and smiled at him. Our eyes met and we both quickly looked away. I twisted my hair around my finger. Sora suddenly took deep interest in his shoes._

~AUL Chap 13~

"_See you tomorrow Tally-Chan."_

_"Tally-Chan?" I blinked up at him._

_He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Oh sorry, that nickname seems to fit you."_

_"It's okay. It'll be your special nickname that __you__ can only call me." I made his blush deepen as I said that. I gave him a quick hug and walked down to the direction of Twilight Town._

~AUL Chap 13~

_I walked up to a blank spot on the wall and picked up a rock a started to carve a picture of me and Sora. I carved me smiling shyly and Sora grinning while we were holding friends. Then under it I wrote "Sora and Tally, Friends 4 ever."_

_Sora peeked over my shoulder and smiled at the picture. He had to admit, I was a good drawer. I turned around came uncomfortably low to his face. My breathing suddenly stop as I looked at him, we stayed in that position until we came back to our senses and quickly backed away from each other._

~AUL Chap 13~

_I shifted my eyes quickly and pecked him on his cheek. Then I quickly went inside my house._

_Sora stood on the doorstep, holding where Talia just kissed him at. A deep red blush came to his face._

~AUL Chap 13~

_He had accidentally kissed me._

_My eyes were widened but they were slowly coming to a close._

_Why… were… they… coming to a close? I couldn't think straight. My mind was completely blank. And… why was neither of us pulling back from the kiss?_

~AUL Chap 13~

_"Ok… so I met my best friend, Riku Tetsuya, in kindergarten and we've been best friends every since. Then when I was 7, Kairi moved to Destiny Islands and we became best friends too. Ha… I remember Riku and I used to fight for her attention. Then… er…" He suddenly paused._

_"What?"_

_"I met you…"_

_My eyes widened. I felt my heart stop completely._

~AUL Chap 13~

"Oh my God…" I placed my hands over my mouth in disbelief.

"What?" Olette asked.

I looked up at her with watery eyes as I said what I just discovered…

"_I'm in love with Sora."_

~AUL Chap 13~

A/N: OMG! Talia now knows her true feelings for Sora! YAY! Now… how to fix this feud between them and to stop Kairi's plotting? And to me… seems like Olette and Naminé have joined teams with Riku and Pence. Oh snap! Only a few chapters left! Thanks to my lovely reviewers!


	14. Chapter 14

Roxas walked to school with his head down, watching the ground move beneath him as he walked. Anyone along the sunny streets of Twilight Town could tell something was bothering the dirty blonde. He had gone to Talia's house to pick her up to walk to school together, but it seemed like she wasn't home according to her father.

Roxas let out a heavy sigh. Did Talia even like him like she claimed she does? He knew she used to like him, but that was years ago. He had the chance to date her, but he messed that up.

He tousled his hair as he continued to walk down the stoned path towards Destiny Islands. As he walked he suddenly found himself bumping into a girl in front of him, causing the girl to fall forward.

He instantly grabbed her hand before she fell to her doom. The girl turned around shyly to Roxas and her eyes widened as his.

"Naminé?" Roxas asked.

Naminé blushed intensely. "S-sorry!"

"No, I should apologize. I wasn't looking where I was going." Roxas smiled sadly to the blonde.

Naminé tilted her head cutely to side in a thinking manor.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Naminé asked sweetly.

"No…" Roxas sighed. "Hey didn't you like spend the night with Olette? Where is she?"

Naminé giggled. "Oh, I left early because I like to go to that little coffee shop at the corner of Sea Shell Street in Destiny Islands before school."

"You drink coffee?" Roxas arched a brow.

"Oh no, ha ha, I only go to get some sea salt ice cream there. Its kinda weird a coffee shop sells ice cream, but it is delicious!" Naminé smiled.

"You eat sea salt ice cream?" Roxas asked, a small smile enlighten his face.

"Um… yeah, most people don't like it though. I think it's the perfect treat!"

Roxas laughed a little causing the blonde girl to be startled a little.

"What?"

"I eat sea salt ice cream too," Roxas smiled at her.

Naminé blushed intensely. She looked down at the ground only to notice their hands were still connected.

"Um… you can let go now, I don't think I'm gonna fall anymore," She blushed while grinning up at him.

"H-huh? Oh, sorry bout that," Roxas blushed.

"No problem! Hey… um… wanna go to that little shop together? You seem like you need someone to talk to!" Naminé asked.

Roxas arched a brow, "You're not gonna report what I tell you on DH News are you?"

"Of course not! Unless…" Naminé looked at Roxas playfully. "Nah, I wouldn't do that! C'mon!"

With that Naminé unintentionally grabbed Roxas's hand and pulled him towards Destiny Islands, both of them oblivious to the blush on their face.

~AUL Chap 14~

I sat under the big apple tree in front of the school. Not too many students were here, but you know me, I'm an early bird. I had left Olette's house when I heard Naminé get up.

I plucked at the bright green grass underneath me, the wind gently blowing my hair into my face. Thoughts about last night kept running through my head. I'm in love with Sora…

I still can't believe it.

When did I fall for him though?

Was I in love with him all along?

I shook those thoughts away from my head as I saw Roxas walking towards me. He looked like he was thinking about something serious before he plopped down beside me.

"Hey Tal," he smiled lightly at me.

"Hey…"

"… So… you spent the night at Olette's house last night?" He asked.

"Yeah…" I said sadly, the whole love confession conversation returning to my mind.

"Oh… have fun there?"

"Yeah…" I nodded slightly.

We were quiet for a while. Both of us were thinking of what to say next. Its weird… we've never had an awkward silence before.

"Talia I-"

"Hey Roxas-"

We both looked at each before laughing out loud. Giving each other a smile, we both returned to our silence.

"Um… hey…"

My heart stopped completely. His… voice. Why was he here? I forced myself to look at the brunette standing over Roxas and me.

"Hey Sora," Roxas greeted him.

I gave a slight wave. If there wasn't an awkward silence before, there definitely is one now.

"Um… Roxas… do you mind if I talk to Talia…?" Sora asked with uncertainty in his voice.

"Sure," Roxas shrugged as he was about to get up.

I quickly grabbed the corner of his shirt causing him to stop. He turned around and saw as I head my head down with my hair covering my face.

"Don't leave…" I whispered so only he could hear.

Roxas smiled slightly before sitting down back beside me. He placed a confronting arm around me and looked back up at Sora. I looked up at Sora and could have sworn his eyes were filled with hurt and sadness.

"Um… I was wondering… if we could… meet at the park later. I have to tell you something…" Sora said.

"Um… sure," I nodded at him.

"SORA!"

I watched in disgust as Kairi came jogging up to Sora and throwing her hands around his neck before pecking him on his cheek. Sora looked disgusted and gentle got her off of him.

"C'mon hon, lets head into school to start our last day here!" Kairi grabbed Sora's hand and began to pull him off.

I watched as my heart started to ache. It was true then… that she and Sora were really dating.

"Talia… we kinda need to talk too…" Roxas said to me in his serious tone.

"About wha-"

The bell interrupted us as I was about to speak.

"Ugh, we'll talk later, ok Tal?"

"Yeah… sure," I smiled as he gently kissed me on my cheek before getting up and running towards the school.

I touched the spot where he kissed me. It was weird… the kiss felt more like a kiss a sibling or family member would give.

Sighing as I got up and dusted off my shorts, I walked slowly towards the school to start my last day of high school.

~AUL Chap 14~

"Okay class, as you know, this is your last day with me!" Mr. Axel faked some tears.

"Aw, cheer up Mr. Axe, we'll come visit you-"

"OH HELL NO! I'M GOOD!" Mr. Axel shouted at the boy who was offering to visit him after high school.

I wasn't really paying attention to Axel. Too many things were on my mind to worry about the pyromaniac. I stared absentminded out the window, wondering what Sora and Roxas wanted to talk about. It had to be serious… whatever it was.

"Tally Mark, are you paying attention?"

"Yeah Axel," I waved my hand dismissively at the teacher.

Axel walked up to my desk and pulled up a chair in front of me. I snapped out of my thought bubble to stare at my teacher like he was crazy.

Which, may I add, he really is.

"What's going on in that smart little brain of yours?" Axel said aloud, causing half the class to turn to us.

"Nothing you need to worry about…" I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Tell Mwister Axwel what wrong with wittle Twalia," he said in a baby voice.

"Stop talking to me like I'm dumb," I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Oh, you are dumb though," he said as he put the chair away.

"Wha-?" I blinked up at him as he started to walk back to his desk.

"You're dumb when it comes to…" he turned around and smirked at me, "…love."

That hit me hard. I blinked. How am I dumb when it comes to love? I'm Talia Kisaragi, the smartest chick in school. I knew everything there is to know. Even about love!

_Didn't you just realize you were in love though?_

Yeah… and?

_God you're slow Talia. You've been in love all this time Talia, and now you're __**just**__ realizing._

I don't… get what you're saying.

_You're dumb when it comes to love. Face it babe, you ain't all that smart when it comes to love._

"Talia! Go to your next bell! I'll gladly give you detention if you're late!" Axel sung in my ears, literally.

I snapped out from my thoughts and grinned big at my now former teacher. Grabbing my stuff, I jumped from my seat and went to my next class.

~AUL Chap 14~

Damn… how was he gonna get Talia to tell him the truth? I mean… he is her best guy friend and all, but she won't tell him probably because they're dating. He just needs to know the truth about her feelings. Naminé had kindly and patiently listened to Roxas in the café and she told him to confront Talia about her feelings. That's all she would say though.

Roxas watched as Talia came into the classroom with a confused face on. She took her normal seat near the back of the classroom, far away from everyone. He sighed and got up to go sit next to his childhood friend.

"Hey…" Roxas smiled sadly at her.

He had to admit. He was afraid of the answer he might receive from the girl he's been in love with since he met her 6 years ago. But… there's still a slight chance she didn't… love _him_. Maybe, Kairi and his friend's plan had worked.

"Hi."

"Look… Talia… can we-"

"Okay class, since this is your last day here, you can have free time!" Mr. Demyx announced.

"What were you saying?" Talia blinked at Roxas.

"Oh… um… do you-"

"Oh yeah! Forgot one thing you guys, feel free to practice your instruments! It's a free day! Do whatever you want!" Demyx smiled.

He rolled his eyes before looking back at Talia who was staring intently at him.

"Um… Talia," he started.

"Yeah?"

"Do you love-"

Everyone had decided to play their music before Roxas could finish his question, which quite frankly, pissed the blonde off.

"What?" Talia yelled over the horrible noise that her classmates were creating.

"Do you love Sora?" Roxas said a bit loudly.

"What?"

"Do you love Sora?"

"What? Roxas I can't hear you!"

"DO YOU LOVE SORA?" Roxas screamed so Talia could hear.

Everyone instantly stopped playing their music and all attention turned to the couple. Talia's eyes were widened and Roxas's face was red from anger.

"Um…"

"Do… you?" Roxas said quietly.

"I can't lie to you Roxas…" Was all Talia said before getting up and going over to her own instrument.

Roxas sat there with a heartbroken look plastered on his face. He was speechless.

"Heh… so Pence was right all along…" Roxas looked as Talia delicately played her own special yellow guitar.

He knew what he had to do. No matter how much it would hurt him, he'd much rather see Talia happy.

~AUL Chap 14~

"Why so serious babe?" Kairi stared at Sora's face.

Sora's left eye twitched before creating some space from him and Kairi. Kairi, in response, scooted even closer to him.

"Kairi, what's gotten into you?" Sora laughed nervously.

"Nothing," Kairi was now all up in Sora's personal space.

"Need some space Kai…" Sora tried to move again only to bump into Zexion.

"Watch it bitch!" Zexion yelled angrily at the frightened brunette.

"S-sorry!" And with that Sora quickly scooted back over to Kairi.

"So… what are you doing tonight," Kairi said in her flirty voice.

Sora blinked at Kairi. He knew she'd get mad if he said he was hanging out with Talia. That and she'd probably try to ruin their meeting.

"Eh… hanging with Riku?" Sora desperately hoped she didn't notice his questioning voice.

"Drop him. You're with me tonight! Meet me at Midnight Destiny tonight at 8!"

"Kairi, that's a fancy restaurant though!"

"So…?" Kairi blinked her eyes innocently at him.

"Kairi we're just frie-"

"HEY SORA! I LIKE YOUR BEARD!" A random girl named Kasha yelled out.

"Um… thanks?" Sora blinked at the girl before turning back around to Kairi.

"Great! See you later bae," Kairi kissed Sora's cheek and skipped out the classroom just as the bell rung.

"Bae?" Sora blinked at the name Kairi just called him.

"Bae is short for baby or babe. It is usually only used in romantic relationships. It is the most common sign that people are dating. That shouldn't surprise you Sora since you are dating Kairi," Xion popped out of no where.

"Ah!" Sora jumped at the girl's sudden appearance.

"Have fun on your date!" With that Xion backed slowly into a dark corner, vanishing from eyesight.

"She's creepy…" Sora shuddered.

Sora shook his head; he had more important things to worry about. Like how was he gonna get out this date with Kairi and meet Talia at the park without no one figuring it out.

It just seems like everything is trying to stop him from finally confessing his true feelings to the blue haired beauty.

Wait… did Xion say… he and Kairi were dating?

~AUL Chap 14~

I decided to eat lunch outside. It appears like every other senior decided to eat outside today too. There was barely a seat to find as almost every table was already filled with skater dudes, popular kids, nerds, or just people just eating their lunch. I, thankfully, found a nice quiet table kind of far away from the crowd.

I saw Roxas walking with Naminé over to our table. Why was he with Naminé? I didn't have a problem with it, its just I thought he didn't associate with popular kids. Then again, Naminé is one of the few of them that are actually nice.

"Hi Talia!" Naminé cheerfully greeted me.

"Hi!" I smiled at her.

"Hey," Roxas avoided my eye contact.

"Hi Roxas…" I said dully.

Naminé seemed to notice the tension between us as she sat down beside Roxas.

"Talia… Roxas has something to tell you…" Naminé nudged Roxas in his side.

"…" I knew what he was gonna say. He was going to say "Let's break up Talia because it's obvious you're in love with someone else!"

Yeah… I was prepared if you can say that.

"Um… Talia… remember when… um… Sora and your dates would… like get kinda sorta ruined?" Roxas asked.

I nodded my head.

"Well… that was because of… the guys and me. Kairi was apart of it too. We helped her in filming the set-up tape for you. I feel so bad and I'm sorry. I'll understand if you never speak to me again!" Roxas turned away from me.

This was the same thing Pence and Riku told me earlier in the week. The exact same thing actually. So… they were telling truth after all.

"But… Roxas… why?" I asked, shocked.

"Because Talia, I love you! God, was it that hard to figure out? Hayner and everyone wanted us together and then you met Sora and he was my competition! Kairi is in love with Sora! You were her competition! We wanted you guys so badly we were willing to break up a friendship! I know it was wrong but we did it! And I'm so sorry Tally. I was just so in love with you, I didn't care what stood in my way; I just wanted to be with you. To be able to call you mine for once. I lost you a couple of years ago because I was afraid of my feelings… and I wanted you back! Now… I got you physically Talia… but I don't have you mentally."

"Talia…" Naminé placed a comforting hand over mine, "Can you tell Roxas how you really feel about Sora? Don't think of him as your boyfriend right now, but as your best friend you've known since you were 12 years old…"

I looked up at Roxas. He clearly saw the tears threatening to spill out my eyes.

"Roxas…" I said slowly.

"Y-yeah?" He stuttered.

"I'm… I'm in love Sora. I'm in love with him so much Roxas…" My voice started to break as the tears started to pour down. "Roxas I love him more than anything! He gives me feelings I've never felt before! I don't know what it is exactly, but all I know is that I'm extremely happy when I'm around him, I get butterflies in my stomach when he's near me, my heart rate increases above normal when he touches me, and when he kissed me… even though it was on accident, it made my mind go blank for 3 days Roxas. 3 days! I couldn't think straight, every time I thought about him, I'd get dizzy and my heart would beat intensely. I don't know what that is Roxas, but something tells me it is love! I'm in love with Sora. I don't know when I fell… or how, but I am," I cried out while being comforted by Naminé.

"What's up with her?" Riku plopped down beside Naminé while Pence sat next to Roxas.

Roxas looked at everyone before standing up. His facial expression was unreadable.

"Roxas…" Naminé looked up at Roxas sadly.

"I'm fine," He faked a smile. A tear rolled down his face causing everyone to gasp.

He touched where the tear stained and quickly wiped it away with his hand. He threw us one more fake smile before running off.

"I'm a horrible friend…" I whispered to myself. I just hurt my best friend. How could I do that? But… if I didn't tell him now and he found out later, he would have been hurt even more.

"No you're not Talia!" Pence reassured me.

"Talia… you can't help who you fall for. Its uncontrollable," Naminé smiled a little at me.

I shook my head. "I can control who I love…"

"So… you chose to love Sora, eh?" Riku glared at me.

"Um… no?" I said.

"Okay then. You fell in love with him on your own. Falling in love comes unexpected and sometimes you realize at the worst of times... kind of like you. The thing is not to give up who you truly love, thinking you're gonna fall for someone you see no more than a brother." Riku explained.

"Damn you're deep Ri-Ri," Pence grinned at Riku.

"I swear you're gay," Riku rolled his eyes at the boy. "Do you understand Talia…?"

I looked at the people in front of me. Naminé was looking at me like she was dying to know what I was about to say next. Pence was eating his meatloaf but his eyes never left me. Riku was slightly glaring at me. I swear that guy does not like me.

"So… what do I do now?"

"Tell Sora how you feel dumbass," Riku frowned at me.

I glared at Riku before slowly nodding my head at him.

"Well… we are meeting at the park later on-"

"What? He told me he was hanging out with Riku later!"

Naminé rolled her eyes and turned around to face her best friend. "Now is not the time Kairi."

"Sora lied to me! Why would he do such a thing?" Kairi glared evilly. Her attention then turned to me.

"You broke our promise Talia. Then you lied to me? You're nothing but a bitch! Go rot in hell-"

"Why don't you go do that yourself…?" I whispered in a harsh voice to her.

"What you just say to me?"

"You heard me…" I growled slightly at her.

She gave me an offended look before turning it into a glare. Flipping her hair, she turned to Naminé.

"C'mon Nami and Riku, we don't hang around geeks like these people. They're a waste of our time," Kairi grabbed Naminé and Riku's arm and dragged them off.

I watched in disgust as she walked away. I hated that girl.

"So… about this meeting with Sora…" Pence asked me out of the blue.

I turned my attention to my chubby friend.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"What are you going to tell him…?" Pence asked.

I really didn't know what I was going to tell him. Heck, I didn't even know what he wanted to talk to me about. Probably gonna say something like we can't be friends anymore because I'm dating Kairi or some bullshit like that.

"You know Pence… I really have no clue…" I smiled bitterly at the boy.

~AUL Chap 14~

I decided to walk home from school today alone. I wasn't really up for my friends overwhelming me in questions about Sora or Roxas or anything. Speaking of Roxas, I haven't seen him anywhere since lunch. I didn't mean to hurt him that much. And I hope he knows that because I do love him… just in more of a brotherly fashion.

I soon arrived home to see a taxi pulling off. What was going on? My mom and dad both owned a car… so who was here?

"TALLY MARK!" I heard the exciting scream come from my doorway.

I turned and saw no one other than Yuffie, back flipping her way towards me.

How could I forget she and Leon were coming today?

She reached me and attacked me in a hug. I laughed softly and patted her gently on her back.

"Hiya cuzzo!" Yuffie smiled.

"Hey Yuffers," I laughed at my cousin's excited-ness.

"Don't overdue it with the hug Yuffie," Leon said dully from the doorway.

"Hey Leon!" I smiled at my cousin's fiancé.

"What up?"

Yuffie finally let go of me, allowing me to go hug Leon.

"Nothing much, just dealing with drama…" I shrugged.

"Well you have all night to tell me about it!" Yuffie rested her arm on my shoulder, signaling our slight height difference.

"Well… I have until 8 to tell you, and then I'm meeting up with… someone…" I said sadly.

"Oh is it Sora?"

I perked up to the name and blinked at my cousin.

"Ninjas know everything hun," Yuffie winked at me.

"You're not a ninja Yuffie…" Leon rolled his eyes.

"You wish I wasn't a ninja Squall!" Yuffie smirked as she said her fiancé's most hated first name.

"It's Leon!" Leon glared slightly at Yuffie.

"Anywho, so is it Sora?"

"Yeah…" I admitted.

"Aw, you two make the perfect couple! I forgot what Sora looks like…" Yuffie rested her hand on her chin.

"Spiky hair? Girly voice? Big yellow shoes?" Leon said.

"Oh yeah! Ha ha, his girly voice cracked me up back in the day!" Yuffie laughed.

"Yeah well… his voice isn't so girly anymore… far from it," I smiled to myself a little.

"Aw Tally are you in love!" Yuffie smirked at me.

"...That question I refuse to answer…" I smirked to my cousin and went inside the house.

"AW TALLY! YOU'RE NO FUN!" Yuffie complained as she hopped after me into the house.

~AUL Chap 14~

"Ready for our date Sora…?" Kairi asked as she stood in the doorway of Sora's house.

Sora stared at the redhead like she was mentally insane. She was all dressed up for their "date" and everything. A red dress that fitted her curves just right stopped at her knees before flaring out at the bottom. Her hair was pinned up by a red rose and few loose strands that were curled were in her face.

"Um… I'm going out… Kairi…?" Sora said in a confused voice.

"I know that silly! Why are you dressed in that though?" Kairi looked at Sora's casual outfit.

"Because… I'm not going on your date…"

"You mean our date, right sweetie?" Kairi grinned up at Sora.

Sora rolled his eyes at the persistent redhead. "Look Kairi, you need stop. I don't like… or love you okay? I told you who I love. Stop trying to cause mischief okay? We're… not ever going to be. I'm sorry. I love you like a sister Kai, but nothing more. And you need to clear up that rumor at school that we're dating, because we're not… and you know it."

Kairi's blue eyes widened as a tear escaped from her eye. She turned away from Sora as more tears started pouring down her face.

"Look Kai…"

"I guess there's no more use in trying is there…?" Kairi said in a hoarse voice.

"Yeah…" Sora scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Sorry… for getting in yours and Talia's way… I'm sorry…" With that, Kairi picked up her dress and started running towards her house.

Sora let out a heavy sigh before tousling his hair. He did not mean to make her cry…

He glanced at the clock.

7:50…

Guess its time to man up… and finally tell Talia his feelings for her. Even if she doesn't return them, at least she'll know how he truly feels about her.

~AUL Chap 14~

8:45…

I let out a heavy sigh as I sat on the park bench. Couples were walking by, holding hands and laughing at their little inside jokes. I bitterly smiled at them as they would pass me a sympathy look.

I guess Sora wasn't coming. Didn't I hear someone in school say him and Kairi had a date today? Guess you can't blow off that bitch of a girlfriend.

"Hey…"

I looked up at the spiky brunette in front of me. He gave me a weak smile which I returned as he took a seat beside me. My attention went back to the ground.

"What did you want to talk about…?" I asked quietly.

"Talia… I'm sorry…" he apologized.

I looked up at him and saw in his eyes he truly meant it. "Yeah… well the affect is already done… so it doesn't matter anymore…"

Sora looked at me in a confused way before joining me and my stare of doom at the ground.

"Why aren't you with Kairi…?"

"Why should I be?"

"Don't you guys have a date…?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't… but she might…"

"I don't care…"

"But she's your best friend…"

"So…?"

"She's your girlfriend…"

"… and Roxas is your boyfriend, but yet you're here with me…"

I snapped my head up to look at him; he was smiling slightly at me.

"I love you're smile…" I whispered quietly to myself.

"Thanks…"

I gave him a quick smile before looking back at the ground.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"I guess…" Sora frowned a little as I stood up.

"Then I guess I'll be going home now…" I said as I started walking to the direction of Twilight Town.

"Why are you dating Roxas…?"

I stopped in my footsteps and turned around and looked at him. He was standing up with his hands stuffed into his pockets and his head down.

"Because… I-" I was shocked. I didn't know what to say.

"You what? You love him?"

"You love Kairi! So does it matter? We both belong with whom we belong with! So it doesn't matter!"

"Ha… I don't love Kairi…" Sora laughed slightly.

"Well… I don't love Roxas…" I said back.

"Then who do you love…?" Sora asked.

"Why does it matter to you?" I asked a bit harshly.

"Because… it does…" Sora returned the same voice to me along with a small shrug.

"Well it shouldn't matter to you who I love! So stop worrying about it!" I said in a harsh voice.

"I will worry about it!"

"You shouldn't!"

"I don't care…"

"Why do you act like you care so much then! You don't love me so it shouldn't matter to you!" I yelled angrily, tears spilling out of my eyes.

Sora's mouth fell open slightly before coming to a small smirk.

"You think I don't love you Talia…?" Sora asked softly.

"You don't!"

"Ah, looks like the nerd of the school is finally wrong about something."

I stood there confused. What did he just say…?

"W-what?"

"You. Are. Wrong," He broke it down for me slowly.

Wait – what? So that means…

"You… love me?" I blinked at him. He smiled at me before gently nodding his head.

"But why-?" I asked.

"The list could go on but I'm in love with you because you're beautiful, smart, kind, caring, funny-"

"I love you too…" I smiled gently at him.

We both looked up at each other with our faces both red. I guess we were both trying to get through our heads that we just admitted we loved each other. We didn't even notice the small crowd around us who were watching the whole time we had our little fight right down to the part where we admitted our true feelings to each other.

"So… what now because this has never happened to me before-?" I asked, slightly panicking.

I didn't even notice that Sora had closed the distance between us where now he was only inches away from me. I looked up at him at his eyes. I kept asking questions but they kind of slurred as he was rapidly closing the distance between us, almost like he was going to kiss me.

Before I could say another unidentified word, I felt something soft graze over my lips, causing my eyes to widen and my arms sway limply at my sides.

It was happening again. I was kissing Sora. Again. Except this time… it wasn't on accident.

But my mind was still blank. Even though I still hadn't responded to the kiss for a while Sora pulled back with a deep red blush.

"S-sorry… had to find a way to shut you up…" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

My lips were still tingling even after he felt pulled away. My instincts got the best of me and I wrapped my arms around his neck and crashing my lips back on his. I could feel the fireworks - or whatever everyone says when they kiss their true love – as he kissed me back, wrapping his arms around my waist to pull me more towards him.

I'd say the kiss lasted at least 10 seconds before some people coughed awkwardly as they walked past us. My shyness – can you actually believe I'm shy? – kicked in and caused me to break apart from Sora.

I smiled at him awkwardly. He returned the same smile.

"So… what exactly does this mean…?" I asked nervously, laughing slightly to myself.

"Um… what do you want this to mean…?"

"I believe I asked you first."

"Yes then I asked you…"

"But still-"

"I guess it could mean you're my girlfriend…"

"Er… what about Roxas…?"

"Naminé can handle him…"

Naminé?

"What does Nami have to do with Roxas?"

Sora let out a soft chuckle, "Isn't it obvious she's in love with him? She's been in love with him every since she saw him at that struggle tournament 4 years ago…"

"4 years ago? And she's _now_ just talking to him?" I asked, kind of shocked at the discovery.

"Yeah… Nami's shy…" Sora laughed a little.

"Okay… so, I guess I should go now… y'know… graduation tomorrow…" I smiled sweetly.

"Yeah… see you tomorrow… Tally-Chan…" He returned my smile.

I blushed intensely at my nickname and gave him a quick hug before running off towards the direction of my house, all the while thinking of Sora.

Hm, maybe falling in love with a popular boy isn't so bad at all.

Now… to deal with the devil herself…

~AUL Chap 14~

A/N: YES! FINALLY! THEY'RE TOGETHER! Um… this is not the best chapter, I know. The lunch scene was dreadful… but anywho! Review please? Until next time…!


	15. Chapter 15

Remember when you were little and you'd lay in bed at night and plan out your life? Like, how you'd meet "the one" and you two would get married and grow old together? How you would become a professional at your future job? Then… how'd you graduate high school, and everyone would be crying and stuff? And you would tell all your friends, "What's the point at crying at graduation? We can just call each other!" Then you'd picture your graduation dress and how you do something big at graduation so everyone would remember you years to come? Next thing you know, its time to finally make all those dreams and fantasies come true.

"TALLY WAKE UP! IT'S YOUR OFFICIAL LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! AREN'T YOU GONNA GO?" Yuffie was smiling down over me.

I opened an eye and looked into her brown ones.

"Um… why? It's my graduation; no one goes to school on their graduation day!" I said sleepily.

"Yeah they do! That's when they pass out all the invitations to the after parties and stuff! Duh smart one…" Yuffie rolled her eyes like it was obvious.

I shrugged. "So? No one is gonna invite me to anything-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT SO GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP AND GET TO SCHOOL!" Yuffie dragged me out of bed.

I groaned as she pushed me towards my closet and started throwing everything out of it.

"Why don't you have anything black or beige? C'MON TALLY! YOU'RE RELATED TO NINJAS! HOW COME YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING BLACK!" Yuffie yelled as she tossed aside a red tank top.

I rolled my eyes and went over to my drawer and pulled out a black halter and a beige sleeveless vest and a beige pair of daisy dukes.

Yuffie turned around and glanced at my outfit before smiling.

"I knew you had some ninja in you somewhere!" She grinned at me before skipping out my room.

I rolled my eyes and went to my closet and got out my school uniform. I guess Yuffie had forgotten that it was a school tradition that everyone would wear the school uniform on the last day of school.

I went into the bathroom and did my quick routine before going downstairs.

"Sweetie, what time is the graduation again?" My mom asked for the 20th time.

"It's at 1:30 mom…"

"But what time do you get out of school?" She panicked.

"At 11:25 mom…" I rolled my eyes at her worried-ness. I swear she was more worried about things than I was.

"Oh okay… um… have a nice last day of high school!"

I grinned at her and skipped out the door. Last day of high school…

I promised myself last night I wouldn't cry. Everything was ready for graduation. I reread my speech over millions of times. I even had a dream about it. Yuffie said I need to stop stressing over the speech thing and that I'd be fine. She said if I messed up, make up something funny to cover it or restart. That this wasn't a test of perfectness, just relax.

Yeah, Yuffie can surprisingly be deep sometimes.

I shook my head as I looked up at the crowded school lawn in front of me. Everyone was in uniform and hugging each other and laughing at things. I tugged down my blue plaid skirt and slowly walked my way to my final day of Destiny High School.

~AUL Chap 15~

"Hey man, cheer up! Its graduation day!" Hayner slapped Roxas hard on his back as they leaned against the apple tree.

"Yeah Roxas… its okay! You know Tally loves you… just not in that way!" Pence reassured the dirty blonde.

"Yeah… I know…" Roxas shrugged.

"Cheer up now before I make you do homework over the summer!" Olette playfully threatened.

"Olette, we're basically done with school and homework. What could you possibly give him to do over summer? Plus you'll be in Radiant Gardens, so you can't do anything!" Hayner frowned at the girl.

"Oh shush, you know I was just playing! Besides, we all know you guys are going to miss me when I'm gone!" Olette smiled.

The boys all looked up at Olette before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Y-you guys! What's so funny?" Olette's face turned red from anger.

"Yeah of course we are Omelet," Hayner laughed.

"Omelet? I thought her name was Olive!" Pence joined in.

"Stop! That's not funny!" Olette screeched at the top of her lungs.

"Aw, don't get upset Outlet! We'll still miss you," Roxas smirked at his friend.

"You guys are mean!" Olette pouted and turned around.

She then felt several pair of arms hug her. She blushed and turned around to hug back her guy friends.

"I'm gonna miss you guys…" Olette said, her voice turning hoarse.

"Aw don't start the tears yet! You're not gone until Thursday! We still have 5 more days of torture with you!" Hayner reassured her.

"Shut it!" They all laughed as Olette began to pout again.

"Hey… guys…"

Everyone looked up and saw Talia standing their, waving shyly at them.

"Join the group hug Tally! You leave tomorrow for Atlantica and we only have but so many hours left together!" Pence grinned.

Talia looked at Roxas with unsure eyes. Roxas caught her gaze and grabbed the blue-haired girl towards the group and hugged her.

"I have a question…" Hayner said.

"What?" Everyone said in unison.

"Why the hell are we hugging each other and we haven't even graduated yet?" Hayner said with a small playful frown on his face.

"He has a point…" Olette agreed.

Everyone soon stopped hugging each other and smiled at everyone.

"Best friends forever?" Olette said, putting her hand out in the center of our circle.

"Forever," Roxas, Talia, Pence, and Hayner joined in and placed their hands on top of Olette's while laughing.

~AUL Chap 15~

Kairi looked over at Talia and her group of friends as she, Sora, and Riku walked to school together. She knew she had to actually apologize to Talia today. She just didn't… know how.

"Hey Sora, there's your girlfriend over there," Riku pointed to the blue-haired over at the apple tree laughing with her friends.

Sora blushed slightly and stared at Talia.

"How did a lazy bum like you score a sexy smart nerd like that? The world may never know!" Riku joked playfully only to earn a glare from Sora.

Kairi rolled her eyes and sped up her walking a little.

"Don't get mad princess! We still love you!" Riku joked.

"How many times do I have to say not to call me that?" Kairi frowned at Riku.

"Princess does sort of fit you Kai…" Sora chuckled slightly.

Kairi's attention turned to Sora and she glared playfully at him.

"Yeah well whatever, I'll see you guys when school lets out," Kairi turned back around and ran over to where she saw Naminé at.

"Aren't you gonna walk your girl to class?" Riku arched a brow.

"Um… but she's with her friends…" Sora said unsurely.

"So? Well… it's your choice. I'm going to find Rikku and ask her to Kairi's graduation party," Riku shrugged.

"You still have a thing for her?"

"It's Rikku. She's sexy as hell!" Riku smirked.

"Er… yeah… um… see you later dude…" Sora waved off his friend as he jogged over to Rikku.

~AUL Chap 15~

I smiled as my friends and I started to walk towards the school together. Before we could reach the doors though, Olette pulled me aside and pointed in the direction of something. I turned to see her pointing at Sora.

"Don't you wanna walk with him Tally? You need to spend as much time as possible with him since you'll be leaving tomorrow…" Olette said.

"But what about you guys?" I asked.

"Aw, we'll be fine!" With that, Olette ran to catch up with Roxas, Hayner, and Pence.

I twisted a strand of my hair around as I nervously made my way over to Sora. Gee, why was I so nervous? It was just Sora…

_Yeah… but he's not just your friend anymore. He's your _boyfriend.

"Hey Tally!" Sora grinned at me.

"H-hey…" I waved nervously.

I could tell Sora hinted I was nervous as he chuckled a little. He then grabbed my hand, causing sparks to run through my body, before pulling me off towards the school with him.

"You're in a hurry to graduate," I laughed slightly as we ran to the school together, hand in hand.

"Duh, I can't wait to get out of this place for good!"

"…Hey… I have to tell you something…" Sora was the only one who didn't know about me leaving tomorrow. I had to tell him now… because later might be too late.

"What is it?" We slowed down as we began to get nearer to the school.

"I'm-"

_BRING!_

I let out a heavy sigh. "I'll tell you later…"

"Okay! See you after class Tally!" He smiled before running towards his class.

I let out a heavy sigh. This was gonna be harder than I thought.

~AUL Chap 15~

Kairi tapped her pen on the edge of her desk as she sat in Mr. Vexen's class. Even though it was their last day there – and they'd be leaving his class in another 15 minutes – Mr. Vexen still decided to give them one final worksheet before leaving. Kairi sneakily looked over at Talia as she worked on her worksheet quietly.

"So… looks like you won…" Kairi sighed loudly.

"Is there a problem Ms. Akamura?"

"Eh?" Talia looked up from her worksheet.

Kairi giggled sadly. Mr. Vexen always got her last name mixed up with Sora's.

"It's Nakamura…" Kairi politely corrected.

"Ah yes, my bad. And Ms. Kisaragi, why on Destiny Islands did you answer to young Sora's last name?" Mr. Vexen spat towards Talia.

"It's because they're dating," Tidus cooed from the back of the classroom.

"Is that so? Well anyway, return to work students!"

Kairi shook her head. Everyone around school already found out about her video being a fake and Talia and Sora's sudden get together. Now everyone was expecting her to apologize to the nerd.

It wasn't like she wasn't going to….

Okay, so she wasn't going to, but Sora demanded her too. Something about he would apologize to Kairi's boyfriend if he did something like that, even if it was out of love. Of course, this led the redhead to question him if he loved her.

Then of course, he kindly rejected her.

Kairi let out another sigh and began to plan her apology to Talia.

"Psst, Kai!" Tifa poked Kairi's back with her pencil.

"What?" Kairi whispered back.

"Did you invite my soon-to-be cousin to your big party?" Tifa asked.

"…"

"Aw, c'mon Kai! You gonna have Sora dateless like that at your party?"

"…He…" Kairi was about to say "Has me," but then something held her back. Something told her just to give up. "Yeah… I'll invite her…"

"Yay! Thanks Kairi!" Tifa smiled and went back to doing her work.

That's it! Kairi could invite Talia to her party to make up for an apology. Kairi smirked at her idea and went back to doing her work.

~AUL Chap 15~

"Why are we cooped up in this crowded ass gym like this?" Hayner complained.

"Hayner… is it necessary to curse?" Olette frowned at him.

"Yes it is! It's hot as hell and crowded as a mother fuc-"

"Hi…" A shy blonde girl waved at the group of 5.

"Hey Nami!" I grinned at my newly best friend.

"Hey," Nami waved slightly, her eyesight going over to Roxas.

Roxas caught her staring at him and she quickly turned away with a blush noticeable on her face. This caused the dirty blonde to chuckle.

"Hi Naminé," Roxas grinned at the blonde.

"H-hey…"

"You're gonna sit with us…?" Olette asked.

"Nah, I have to report back to the popular kids…" Naminé shrugged.

"Ha ha, report?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah…" Naminé said shyly.

I looked over at the popular section. They were on the other side of the bleachers in the gym. Unlike us, they had a reasonable crowd and even a fan that was directly centered on them. Out of the popular kids, I spotted Sora sitting with my cousin, Aerith, and Riku.

He seemed to have spotted me too as he smiled his irresistible smile at me, causing me to blush and a couple of other girls (Or… his fan girls) to sigh all dreamy.

I shyly smiled back at him before Olette suddenly stood in front of my view.

"Aye, lover girl, pay attention! Naminé asked you a question!" Olette gently fussed at me.

"Sorry Nami, what did you say?" I apologized gently.

"Oh, I was asking did you get invited to Kairi's party."

"Um… no? She hates me, remember?" I frowned at the mention of Kari.

"She hates us too and we got invited…" Hayner held up a pink invitation.

I looked at the rest of my friends as Pence, Roxas, and Olette held up a similar pink invitation as Hayner's.

"Well, I don't care…" I frowned.

"It says we have to bring a date…" Hayner informed me.

"Yeah? And who are you going with?" I arched a brow.

"Olette!" Hayner announced proudly and caused the brunette to blush.

"Shout it out, will ya?" Olette said in embarrassment.

"Of course!" Hayner then stood up, causing the crowd of students to look at him.

"H-Hayner! I didn't mean it!" Olette tried to make him sit back down.

"I, HAYNER MAKINO, AM DATING OLETTE TAKISHI!" Hayner yelled across the gym.

The gym then erupted in cheers while others shouted, "Who cares?"

"Thank you for your sudden outburst Mr. Makino, now sit down so we can all get settled," Mrs. Kramer said through the microphone.

Hayner grinned sheepishly and quickly say down beside Olette whom hit him upside his head.

"Do that again and you just might not be dating me," Olette glared slightly at the blonde.

I laughed. "See, I knew you guys liked each other."

Olette blushed while Hayner scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"So… I'm going back over to there now…" Naminé smiled at us.

"Okay Nami! See ya later!" I grinned at her.

"See you later…" Roxas said while looking in no particular direction.

Naminé simply waved and made her way back over to the popular section.

"Oh, Roxas likes Naminé," Pence teased.

"Do not!" Roxas quickly snapped back.

He then sent me a glance and I smiled at him gently back.

"Settle down seniors! We have some stuff to discuss before dismissing you home!" Ms. Kramer said through the microphone on the gym floor.

The gym instantly got quiet and everyone looked at her intently, waiting for her to speak again.

"Thank you. Now, as you know, we do not allow any younger students to come to graduation but since Zidane Tribal of 10th grade is a part of the DH News, then he and Naminé Harumi shall be the announcers at graduation. No other younger student is allowed. Now, with that said, for anyone who doesn't know where Paopu Island University is, please let us know ahead of time so we can give you directions there. Now, if you live in Twilight Town, it is best to try to get to Paopu Island as quickly as possible as you know there maybe traffic on the bridge or in the tunnel. Graduating students must report in the gymnasium of the college at exactly 12:45. You have until 1:15 to arrive before we shut the doors. Ladies, just a quick reminder, all dresses must be white. No other color is allowed. Dresses should not be too short. Long dresses that are to the floor are not allowed. And gentlemen, please dress appropriately. Everything neat, please. Thank you and you are dismissed!"

I took hands with Olette as everyone was getting pushed and shoved out of the gym. I felt myself being tugged back towards the gym as someone was pulling me.

Since there were so much students coming out, Olette didn't notice when we had accidentally let go. I was pulled towards the girl's locker room in the room.

I still couldn't see who was pulling me, so guessing it was a kidnapper, I twisted they're arm that was pulling me and flipped them onto the floor.

"Ow…" A female's voice groaned from the floor.

Oh great. I bet it was one of Sora's crazy fan girls. I got in a fighting stance just in case. They surely wasn't about to gang up on me.

Soon the gym cleared and I came face to face with Kairi who was still on the floor in pain.

I blinked at her before coming back to my senses and helped her up.

"Sorry…" I mumbled under my breath.

"Yeah you should be," She snapped her arm form my grip.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes and began to walk back out the gym.

"Talia wait! I have to give you something…" She strained to say.

"What do you want?" I placed my hands on my hips and frowned at her.

She handed me a pink envelope that said "You are cordially invited to Kairi's After-Grad Party."

"What's this for?" I asked skeptically. What's she planning now? To embarrass me at her party?

"It's a part of my apology…" She looked at the ceiling.

"Um… look I don't want to go to your party-"

"Sora will be there! And your friends! And almost every senior! What are you possibly gonna do without any of your friends around?"

"…"

Damn, she got me.

"Fine," I sighed.

She smiled at me. "The invite explains everything. See you at 6 Talia…"

I watched as she walked off. Taking another glance at the invitation, I started to walk my ways home.

~AUL Chap 15~

_Dear Participant,_

_You have been cordially invited to the senior party of the year! Kairi Ava Nakamura, Princess of Destiny High, is generously throwing an After-Grad Party for all graduating seniors. Kairi asks that you please dress formal but casual for this event. Dates are welcomed. It starts at 6 and ends at midnight. No drugs or weapons allowed. Can't wait to see you there!_

_-__Kairi Nakamura_

"See? I told you that you were gonna get invited to a party!" Yuffie smiled as she read my invitation over again.

"Uh huh," I said as I brushed my teeth.

"You're going right? I mean you have to go!" Yuffie squealed from my room.

I spit and rinsed and walked into my room.

"Yeah, because Sora's going and I haven't told him I'm leaving yet…"

"He doesn't know you're going to Atlantica?"

"No he knows, but he doesn't know I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Aw… you two finally get together and then you have to leave him…" Yuffie shook her head.

My eyes fell to the floor and I could feel my heart breaking after she said that. I didn't want to leave Sora, but this was a once in a lifetime chance. It wasn't like we weren't going to call each other. Plus, I'd be coming home to Twilight Town on holidays and maybe a couple of weekends.

"Oh, I'm sorry Tally! Didn't mean to ruin your mood! You'll see him! It's not like he's gonna leave you for another-"

"Bye Yuffie," I pushed her out my room and locked my door.

"Aw Tal! I'm sorry!"

I sighed and put on my graduation dress. It was sleeveless and stopped just above my knees. It a white ribbon tied around the waist and at the hem there were little flowers. I slipped on my white heels.

After applying some makeup and lip gloss, I did my hair. Since I took a shower, it was curly and it was already almost 12:30, so I wouldn't really have time to straighten it. I let it stay out and I added a white bow to it. I smiled at my appearance.

I walked down the stairs and the first thing I saw was white dots everywhere as my mom took a picture.

"MY BABY IS ALL GROWN UP!"

"She's beautiful!" Yuffie smiled as she took a picture of me.

I laughed and finished coming down the stairs.

"Talia, you're picking up Olette and Naminé right?" My mom asked me.

"Yeah…" I nodded my head.

"Okay honey, we'll see you at the university! Tell Sora I said hi," My mom winked.

My dad frowned at the mention of Sora's name.

"Bye dad!" I grinned at him.

"See ya…" He smiled slightly at me.

I hurried out the door and into my car. It was a simple convertible I got for my 16th birthday. I never really used it. It was black and had beige leather seats. I placed my small purse into the passenger seat and started up the car and drove to Olette's house where she and Naminé were at.

When I arrived at Olette's house, she and Naminé were swinging on her front porch swing. I beeped my horn at them and they looked up at me in surprise.

"WE GONE MA!" Olette called from the open window behind her.

Her mom came to the window and waved bye to her and Naminé.

They came down the steps and towards my car.

Naminé had on a white dress that stopped a little below her knees. The straps were around her shoulders. Olette had a white dress that stopped at her knees and it had one strap.

"Hey Talia!" Naminé smiled as she climbed into the back seat.

"Hi Nami!" I smiled at her through my rearview mirror.

Olette climbed in beside me and took my purse and placed it on the floor.

"We better hurry up…" Olette looked at the time on my radio.

It was 12:40 already.

"Yeah," I agreed and started my car again and started driving towards Destiny Islands.

"So, did Kairi invite you?" Olette said after a few minutes.

"Yeah…"

"Are you going?"

"Probably…" I shrugged as I switched into the left lane as we were getting close to the tunnel that led to Paopu Island.

"What are you going to wear?" Naminé asked.

"I don't know for real, Nami. It has to be formal but casual."

"Oh, I'm wearing my favorite white dress and blue flip flops."

"Naminé, you over wear that white dress," Olette laughed.

"It's my favorite one! Cloud got it for me!" Naminé smiled.

"Cloud?" I asked as we entered the tunnel.

"Yeah… he's my older brother."

"Wow, I didn't know you were related to Cloud…" I said.

"Yup!"

The rest of the car ride was silent as we drove to the college.

~AUL Chap 15~

"Nami!"

Oh Lord, how come always the first person I see is the she devil herself?

Kairi ran up and attacked Naminé with a suffocating hug.

"Looks like the tramp strikes again…" Olette whispered over to me as we looked at her dress.

It had very thin spaghetti straps that almost looked like string and it flowed around her mid-thigh. It hugged her body extremely tight. It looked as more she was going to a party than graduation.

"Well… she looks… okay?" I eyed as Kairi rambled on to Naminé about something.

The gym was crowded with students waiting to graduate. All the available seats were taken with impatient students waiting to hurry and get this over with so they can go and do whatever with their friends.

"Oh, Tal, I see Hayner. I'll catch up with you later!" Olette scampered off towards her boyfriend.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at the couple as Hayner spun her around as she ran over to him. It was cute.

I glanced around the gym to see if I saw any other friends of mine. I spotted Pence fanning himself in a chair while talking to Selphie. Roxas was blushing and rubbing his neck nervously as Naminé grinned up at him. Riku was talking to Rikku, who had her arms linked with his. Kairi… well who cares about Kairi?

I surely didn't.

"Hey…"

Once again, speak of the devil.

I turned around and frowned as she looked at me with an unreadable expression.

"What?" I said kind of harshly.

Kairi seemed to ignore it. "Um… I just wanted to know if you're still coming to my party tonight…"

Did I have a choice? Sora was going to be there… and I had to tell him one way or the other.

"Yeah..." I sighed.

"Um… I know we didn't get along in the past… but I just want everything to be cool between us and all. Since you know, I'll probably the Godmother of your and Sora's children…" She smirked as she saw my face turn red.

"Um…"

"Ha ha, just kidding. Who knows when I'll come up with a new plan to tear you guys a part? So until then… can we be like… cool?" She smiled at me.

I closely studied her smile. It seemed as she was really trying to make things cool between us.

"I can't make any promises Kairi, because you hurt me a lot in these last couple of weeks. But… maybe we can become acquaintances?"

Kairi's smiled brightened. "Sure. Let's start over," she held her hand out. "Hi, my name is Kairi Nakamura."

I laughed slightly and shook her hand. "Hello Kairi, I'm Talia Kisaragi."

"Well… I'd better go find something to do…" Kairi said awkwardly as she stalked off.

"Bye…" I smiled gently as she left.

Okay… I've seen everyone except my boyfriend. Where could he be?

Then again, it's Sora. He'll probably get here in the last 2 minutes.

Thinking of Sora brought tears to my eyes. I finally got together with him… and now we have to separate again. All that trouble I went through… and now I have to leave it behind. Was going to Atlantica really worth losing the only person I love?

Just the thought of being separated from Sora scared me a little.

I jumped as I felt arms wrap around me.

"Whatcha thinkin' about Tally-Chan?"

I blushed as I stood frozen. "N-nothing…"

Sora let go of me and smiled at me. "You're thinking about something. You can tell me!"

I smiled at him gently. "I'm fine… just nervous is all…"

"Oh… well…" Sora and I looked at this one girl who was literally shaking and snapping at anyone who walked her way, "I think we're all kind of nervous."

"I'm going to miss you…" I whispered quietly.

Maybe… maybe I can tell him now.

"What?" He turned to me with a confused look.

"Sora I'm-"

"STUDENTS WE'RE STARTING! GET TOGETHER WITH YOUR PARTNERS! JUST LIKE IN REHERSAL!" Ms. Kramer yelled to us through a bullhorn.

I was beginning to walk off and find Roxas but a hand pulled me back.

"What is it Talia?"

I… I can't tell him now.

"I'll tell you later…" I left as he let go my hand.

I quickly found Roxas and I could tell he noticed something was wrong with me.

"What's wrong?" He whispered as the teachers were making sure we were lined up correctly.

The gym had suddenly got extremely quiet as everyone was waiting to enter the football field.

"Just nervous about my speech is all…" I sighed.

He squeezed my hand, "You'll do fine Tal…"

"I hope so…" I murmured as the music began to play.

~AUL Chap 14~

Everyone marched out into the football stadium and all we saw were flashing lights and the clapping of parents and younger siblings. We had to stand in front of our seats until everyone had made it out of the gym and in the field.

We heard 3 beats to the drums to let us know to turn straight. We all faced our parents as they let out cheers and screams.

3 more beats to the drum and everyone placed their right hand over their heart in a soldier like manner.

"We will now say the Pledge of Allegiance," Ms. Kramer said from the stage in the middle of the field.

"I Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of Destiny Islands. And to the Republic, for which we stand. One Nation. One God. Indivisible. For Liberty and Justice for all." The whole field said.

"You may now be seated."

Everyone instantly sat down.

"I call to stage, Naminé Harumi and Zidane Tribal." Ms. Kramer said as she sat down and let Naminé and Zidane take the microphone.

"Welcome, parents, siblings, students, faculty and staff. We welcome you here today to witness the graduating class of 2010." Naminé spoke properly.

"I, Zidane Tribal of 10th grade,"

"And I, Naminé Harumi, graduating senior, will gladly be your hosts on this glorious day."

I looked out at the audience, trying to see what family member I could see. It wasn't that hard. I'm related to ninjas and people with blue hair. So I'd just need to look for people wearing all black or beige and people with blue hair.

I noticed Yuffie and Leon sitting close to the front in the Honored Guest section. My mom and dad were sitting next to each other. He would occasionally whisper something to my mom and she would giggle.

Great, guess I know the next wedding I'm attending after Yuffie's.

"Now, we'd like to bring up Straight A student throughout her whole entire school life, a great role model for children, and the school's nerd, Talia Kisaragi."

The whole field erupted in cheers as I stood up and made my way to the stage.

This is it. My graduation speech that I didn't have any help with. There's no turning back now.

"Good Afternoon Students, Parents, and Staff…" I said.

I heard them say good afternoon back while others whistled and shouted out things to me like,

"You're one sexy nerd!"

Or…

"Damn you're fine!"

I smiled a little and waited for them to settle down.

"My name is Talia Kisaragi of homeroom 415. I'm here to represent all of our graduating students here today. Throughout our lives, we've always depended on other people in our lives; parents, teachers, guardians, counselors, cousins, and anyone else who helped us get here in life. Now that we're finally here, we'd like to say thank you. Thank you for helping us get those good grades on tests, thank you for taking the time to teach us valuable lessons, thank you for being there when we needed you the most, and thank you for just being in our lives. Without you guys, we wouldn't be here today."

I paused as everyone broke out in applaud again.

"I can agree when people say high school is a place you'll never forget. You discover so many new things here that you didn't know was even possible. We've met people who we know will be in our lives until the day we die. Not just friends were formed here at Destiny High, but families as well. Families we'll never forget in the long run. Now yes, some enemies were made. Even to the point where cat fights and food fights would start. Hey, I couldn't blame them. Sometimes people just get under your skin."

Everyone let out a little laugh.

"But in the end, we all still stick together. And parents, you've been here all our lives, and always will be. But…. It's time for us to get a hang on of this world on our own. We don't need you to choose our path for us and hold our hand as we walk it anymore. From here on, we can handle ourselves. Destiny High students are tough and we can handle anything that is thrown our way."

Students erupted in cheer.

I smiled as I knew my speech was almost over.

"I've learned, as pretty sure everyone else here also did, was that no matter where we are we are never apart. So I congratulate all graduating seniors and hope you're life is fulfilled with your dreams and ambitions," I smiled as the field broke out in applause.

I quickly went down the stairs as Naminé and Zidane made their way back to the microphone.

"What a beautiful speech from Ms. Talia Kisaragi."

"We will now pass out the diplomas as special singer, Utada Hikaru, will sing her song, Simple and Clean."

Everyone screamed and clapped as Utada Hikaru made her way onto the stage and the band gently played her song.

_When you walk away._

_You don't hear me say…_

"Sora Akamura."

Sora made his way up the stage as he shook people's hands and accepted his diploma.

_Please~ oh baby, don't go._

_Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight…_

"Riku Tetsuya."

_It's hard to let it go._

_You're giving me… too many things, lately._

_You're all I need. Oh no~_

"Olette Takishi."

_You smiled at me and said,_

_Don't get me wrong I love you. _

_But does that mean I have to meet your father?_

"Hayner Makino."

_When we are older you'll understand,_

_What I meant when I said no. _

_I don't think life is quite that simple._

"Roxas Hikari."

_When you walk away._

_You don't hear me say, please oh baby, don't go._

_Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight._

_It's hard to let it go._

"Pence Hikaru."

_The daily things. (Like this and that and what is what.)_

_That keeps us all~ busy. _

_Are confusing me~_

_That's when you came to me~_

_And said…_

"Tifa Lockhart."

_Wish I could prove I love you._

_But does that mean I have to walk on water?_

_When we are older you'll understand._

_It's enough when I say so._

_But maybe, some things are that simple._

"Selphie Tilmitt."

_When you walk away._

_You don't hear me say._

_Please~ oh baby, don't go._

"Tidus Zanarkand."

_Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight. It's hard to let it go._

_Hold me. Whatever lies beyond this morning…_

"Rikku Braska."

_Is a little later on._

_Regardless of warnings._

_The future doesn't scare me at all~_

_Nothing's like before._

"Naminé Harumi."

_When you walk away._

_You don't hear me say._

_Please~ oh baby don't go._

_Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight._

_It's hard to let it go._

"Aerith Gainsborough."

_Hold me. Whatever lies beyond this morning is a little later on. _

_Regardless of warnings._

_The future doesn't scare me at all._

_Nothing's like before…_

"Talia Kisaragi."

Everyone stood up facing the parents as Ms. Kramer made her way to the stage.

"Students… recite our school's motto for the last time…"

"Thinking of you wherever you are. We pray that our sorrows will end and hope that our hearts will blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish. And who knows? Starting a new journey may not be so hard… or maybe it's already begun. There are many worlds, but they share the same sky. One sky. One destiny."

"I present you the Class of 2010!"

3 beats to the drums were heard and everyone threw their blue and white hats in the air and hugged one another.

I caught my hat as it felt back in front of me. Everyone got quiet as we stopped all of a sudden and marched into lines to form a warrior holding a keyblade. Then we marched back into the gym in rows.

I smiled as I saw Yuffie and Leon wink at me and give me a thumb up.

Goodbye high school… hello college.

~AUL Chap 15~

"Shit…" I mumbled under my breath as I desperately tried to find Kairi's house.

I decided to walk to her house since I walk to Destiny Islands all the time, but damn do I regret it. Walking in heels in a long period of time is not comfy.

I squinted my eyes at the house addresses on the mailboxes. None of them read 2425 Purple Rose Road. I mean… I was on the correct street, it's just I couldn't find her house. All the houses on this street were large and dark.

I tugged at my black dress as I felt a cold gust of wind blow past my legs. Turning down a couple of more streets without any luck, I was giving up.

I knew this was a trap. The bitch strikes again! I bet she's probably drugged Sora and dancing with him by now.

_When you walk away-_

"Hello?" I desperately answered my phone, not even looking at the caller id.

"Tali-"

"Dude I'm like lost! I'm freezing cold, my feet hurt, and I'm ready to kill someone!"

"Tali-"

"I mean, I just wanted to go to this party for one reason then get the hell out of there! But can I do it? No! Wanna know why? Because I'm lost!"

"Talia!"

"What?" My eye twitched, irritated by the person because they interrupted my tantrum.

"You passed the house…"

"W-what?" I blinked.

"You passed it two blocks ago…"

"Wha-? How did you even see me? And all those houses were like… dead!"

"We're in her backyard house…"

"Backyard house? How many houses does she own?"

"Three…"

I sucked my teeth and turned around and started walking back.

"Oh… before I hang up on you… who are you?"

"Sora…"

I froze. I was so pissed I didn't even recognize my own boyfriend's voice.

Am I that pitiful?

"Oh sorry! I'll be there in a few, okay?"

"Ha ha, okay…" I smiled as I heard him laugh slightly on the other side of the phone.

"Bye…"

"See ya!"

I hung up my phone and looked back at the houses. Finally, coming to the right block, I saw 2425. I went up to the door and knocked on it twice.

A lady with short red hair and green eyes answered the door. She stared at me.

"Um… hello?"

"…"

"Um… I'm here for Kairi's party…"

"…"

"Er… may I come in?"

She moved aside and I walked into the mansion like house. I was amazed at how big the house was. It had stairs in the middle of the room going up to the 2nd floor. To the right was a room blocked off by clear glass doors which had a beach themed room in it. The left of the room had a nice dining area with a grand fireplace and a big wooden table that could seat about 20. A chandelier hung over the table and soft jazz music could be heard.

"…"

I turned around and jumped as the woman was behind me, staring at me intently.

"Um… how can I get to the back house?" I asked nervously. This lady was creepy.

"…"

"Um…?"

She then smiled. "Go upstairs, out the door that is straight back, across the bridge, and then you'll be at the other house!"

"T-thank you!" I said, quickly running off.

"Bye Talia!"

How did that woman know my name? She's creepy…

~AUL Chap 15~

I finally made it to the right house. I knew it had to be the right house because once I stepped inside, there was loud music playing everywhere, every senior was dancing or drinking, some were even smoking in a secluded area. I pushed my way through the crowd and down the stairs where it was more… tame. Everyone was dancing or at the food table, loading their plates with as much food as it could hold.

"Tally!" I heard my name and turned around to face Naminé and Roxas.

Naminé was wearing a simple white dress with a zigzag line at the hem and pale blue sandals with a little yellow flower on the fasten. Roxas had on a pair of jeans and black t-shirt under a sleeveless unbuttoned vest with some converse.

"Hey you guys! You look great!" I smiled at my friends.

"You do too, Tal!" Naminé hugged me.

I shrugged. I was wearing a black casual dress with a brown belt around the waist and black heels. My hair was down with my side bang down. I finished off my outfit with a black headband.

"I love this song!" Naminé squealed as Double Vision by 3OH!3 came on.

"Um… wanna dance?" Roxas asked nervously.

Naminé blushed and gently nodded her head. Roxas smiled slightly and grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the dance floor.

I smiled at the young couple… or soon to be couple.

"Talia!" Kairi grabbed my arm from behind.

I turned around and looked at the redhead. She was wearing a pink short dress with too many zippers and a white cami under it. She had on purple boots with black lace that tied up around her calf.

She held up a cup in her hand as she rambled on to me about something.

"So… have you?" Kairi asked.

"What…?" I blinked at her confused.

She rolled her eyes. "Have you seen Sora yet because he's looking for you…"

"Oh… no… I haven't seen him…"

"Oh… well c'mon!" Kairi grabbed my hand before I could protest.

I thought she was taking me to Sora but instead she dragged me to the dance floor and started dancing with me. I stood there confused. Why is this crazy chick dancing with me?

"It's a party, _nerd_, have fun while you can!" Kairi smiled.

Damn… how many points is she going to make today?"

I pointed at my shoes. My feet already hurt; I'm not going to give myself blisters by dancing in heels. Kairi sucked her teeth and shook her head.

"Stay here, don't move!" With that, she ran off.

I blinked and went over to the food table and got me a cup of punch. It was tropical punch. Kairi came back after I downed 3 cups of punch.

She blinked at me as I was almost finished with my 4th cup.

"Aha, thirsty much?" She laughed as she handed me some black flats.

I smiled and grabbed them from her and slipped them on.

"Why are you being nice to me again?" I asked as she dragged me back to the floor.

"Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer," she winked at me as she danced with me.

I couldn't help but laugh as she said that. She soon joined my laughter. We soon got into a conversation about random things as we danced through about 4 songs. I found out we had a lot more in common than I thought.

Soon the lights dimmed and White Horse by Taylor Swift came on. Kairi instantly stopped dancing with me.

"Well… see you later!" She smiled gently at me and left to dance with some other guy.

I looked around as I saw Naminé and Roxas dancing. Hayner was dancing with Olette. Pence and some girl were dancing. Kairi and some guy were dancing. Riku was dancing with Rikku.

Everyone… had someone to dance with… except me.

"Care to dance?"

I blushed as I turned around to face Sora. He looked absolutely cute. He had on black jeans and white short sleeved blouse with the first 3 top buttons unbuttoned, a black vest that was also unbuttoned, a black skull tie that was hanging loosely around his neck, and black vans.

I smiled and grabbed his hand that he held out. We slowly danced to the song without talking for a while.

"Hey… Talia…"

"Hm?" I asked, not really paying attention because I was too lost in his cerulean blue eyes.

"What did you want to tell me before?"

That snapped me back to reality. I remembered the reason I came to this party in the first place. I remembered how I didn't get a chance to tell him before school started and before graduation.

Now… there was nothing to stop me from telling him.

"Oh… that…" I said, sadness filled in my voice.

"Yeah…?" He asked.

"I don't know how to tell you this…"

"Tell me what?"

"I'm… going to Atlantica…" I started.

"I already knew that," he laughed gently.

"No… I'm leaving… tomorrow…" I said quietly and looked away.

"…"

I looked up at his eyes and saw they were hurt extremely. My heart ached to see him sad like this.

"Tomorrow…?" He asked quietly.

~AUL Chap 15~

A/N: Can you call that cliff hanger? I DON'T KNOW! Anyways, thanks to my reviewers! Sorry for the long wait. Was it worth it though? Next chapter is last chapter! So yeah, see you guys there!


	16. Chapter 16 Last Chapter

"_Tomorrow?" Sora repeated once more._

_I nodded my head, tears welling up in my eyes._

"… _Why…?" Sora had let go of me._

"_I'm going to Atlantica…" I said again._

"_No, why are you just telling me this now?" He asked, his voice was scary serious._

"_I tried to… but… with all the-"_

"_I don't care, Talia. What's going to happen to… us?" He looked me dead in the eye._

_My heart was rapidly breaking into pieces._

~AUL Final Chapter~

"TALIA ARISA KISARAGI! WAKE UP!"

My eyes fluttered open as my mind replayed the events that happened last night. I sat up from my bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

Today was my last day here at Twilight Town.

Groaning, I reached over my nightstand and grabbed my phone. Maybe Sora had called me or something…

Nope. Not a call or text. Was he that upset with me?

As I sat my phone back down and ran a hand through my hair, my bedroom door busted open to reveal my friends.

"The hell?" I jumped.

"SURPRISE!"

"Surprise?" I blinked at them.

They all came in and sat on my bed.

"We're kidnapping you until it's time for you to leave," explained Olette.

"Yeah so _please_ hurry and take a shower because you smell…" Hayner held his nose and waved a hand in front of it.

I responded to this by hitting him with my pillow and caused him to fall on the floor.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I pulled back my covers and went over to my closet.

"The beach!" Pence smiled as he came through my door, holding a plate of pancakes and strawberries. He was happily munching away on them.

"Pence! That's Talia's going away breakfast from her mom!" Olette snapped.

"Sorry," Pence sat down the nearly empty plate on my dresser.

I turned around and rolled my eyes at went back to finding an outfit.

"How long are we staying? My plane leaves at 6," I said as I grabbed a purple tank top and beige khaki short shorts.

"Um… well I guess until whenever we get tired?" Hayner said as he eyes my pancakes.

"Well… since its 9am now, how bout we stay till like 12 and get something to eat afterwards?" Roxas suggested.

"Great!" I smiled at him which caused a light blush to appear on his face. "Now get out so I can get dressed!"

"Oh but I wanna stay," Hayner smirked at me playfully.

Olette immediately took notice of this and loudly cleared her throat.

"Oh sorry, babe. You know I love you," Hayner kissed the brunette's cheek.

I frowned at the sight. Even though Olette was leaving for college in another town, she was still only about 3 hours away from Hayner. I was an airplane ride across the ocean and a train ride away from Sora. My heart instantly had a sharp pain shoot through it.

"Get out," I said quietly.

"Fine, fine. We're leaving," Pence grabbed my plate of food and quickly exited the room.

Hayner, Olette, and Roxas soon left too. I went into my bathroom and took a quick shower and brushed my teeth. I put my 1 piece yellow bathing suit under my clothes and slipped on some black flip flops with a huge purple flower on it.

I put my hair into a high ponytail and exited my room and went downstairs. My mother was fussing out Pence for eating my food while Hayner, Roxas, and Olette were laughing out to the side.

"Mornin' mom," I waved to her as I entered the kitchen.

"Oh baby! Your dumb-"

"Hey!"

She shot Pence a glare. "As I was saying. Your fat ass friend here ate your breakfast. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I said as I grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the fridge. "I'm going to the beach anyways, and I don't wanna wait 1 hour before I can go into the water."

"Well… okay. Oh, Sora called," She said as she went into the living room.

"He did?" I asked as I quickly followed her out.

"Yeah."

"What'd he say?" I arched a brow.

"I don't know… your father answered."

Figures. Dad probably hung up on him as soon as he said hello. Why did he call my house phone though?

"Where's dad anyway?"

"Went to take Yuffie and Leon to the airport," She shrugged.

"Oh…"

"Well you better get going! If you miss your plane, you won't be on another one there until August!" She playfully frowned.

"Hey, let's make her miss her plane then!" Hayner grinned.

"If you do," I sent daggers over at him.

"Chillax, I was joking," He laughed nervously.

"Okay, mom. Be back by… let's say 4?" I said.

"Alright, honey. Be careful. Watch out for sharks. Use sunscre-"

"Bye mom," I instantly hurried out the door.

~AUL Final Chapter~

We arrived at the beach in no time. And I have to say, for it being only 9:30 in the morning, it was pretty crowded already. Typical beach days for Destiny Islanders. We had to search around for a while before finding an empty spot sort of close to the water.

"Hey, well at least we won't have to endure the hot sand to reach the water," Hayner grinned as he stuck the beach umbrella into the sand.

"Yeah… but how come no one else claimed this spot?" Roxas arched a brow.

"Maybe we were just lucky," Olette said as she started to apply sunscreen over her arms.

I sat down on the beach towel and looked out into the vast ocean. This world is so small… an island full of prisoners surrounded by water. But yet, it was just perfect for me. I loved this place. It's my home and always will be.

So why am I seeking out to escape my prison?

I instantly shook my head, getting rid of the thought.

"Talia, you okay?" Olette arched a brow at me.

"Yeah, just thinking about how I watch a little too much TV," I laughed quietly.

My thoughts were instantly interrupted as a wave came crashing down on the spot we were in. Olette and I let out high pitched screams as the boys cursed under their breath.

Pence spat out the salty water. "No wonder no one wanted this spot."

"Great… now all my clothes are wet," Hayner groaned.

"I told you to rent a locker like the rest of us," Olette said as she dried herself off.

I stood up and grinned at my friends.

"What?" Roxas arched a brow.

"Hey, since we're already wet, at least we don't have to deal with the cold water when we first get in!" I said as I ran and literally jumped into the water, causing water more water to splash onto my friends.

"HEY! MY CLOTHES ARE ALREADY WET!" Hayner yelled at me as he wringed out his shirt.

I laughed. "C'mon this is my last day here! Let's have fun!"

They all eyed each other before looking back at me.

"Yeah… I guess she's right…" Hayner groaned.

"Yeah! Let's make this day something Talia won't forget!" Olette grinned at me.

~AUL Final Chapter~

"C'mon Sora, it's the start of summer! Cheer up!" Kairi said as she sipped her iced tea.

Sora stirred his straw around in his water as he absent mindedly stared out the café window. Riku let out a sigh as he watched his best friend be depressed.

"Look Sora, waffles with blueberry syrup! You love that," Kairi pushed his plate towards him.

"Yeah…" he said nonchalantly.

Kairi let out a deep breath and ran a hand through her auburn hair. Getting the love of her life to become less depressed was going to be harder than she thought.

"It's not like she's not coming back," Riku finally said.

"I know… but… a lot can happen in 4 years, Riku," Sora turned to the silverette.

"If you're worried about Talia cheating-"

"Talia wouldn't do that!" Sora snapped.

"I was saying; you shouldn't worry about that because Talia isn't like that."

"See… this is what happens when you fall in love with a nerd. If it was me-"

"Kairi, this is not the time to hit on Sora, okay? Geez, have a heart sometimes, will ya?" Riku rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm just saying! There's always some sort of complications when people of our standards associate with people lower than us…" Kairi shrugged as she stuck a forkful of pancakes her in her mouth.

"Kairi, shut up! No one is lower or higher than us. We're all the same, so stop talking down about my girlfriend and her friends," Sora glared at the girl.

"Sorry…" Kairi shrugged again.

Riku frowned at the two. He knew their friendship would never be the same as long as Kairi loved Sora and Sora dated Talia.

Talia…

"You know… I'm kind of glad Talia is leaving. She's caused a lot of drama between us 3-"

"Riku are you serious! You're the one who teamed up with her friend to try to get us together and now that we're together, you're regretting it? Seriously?" Sora stood up from the chair. "Know what? I'm out of here!"

"Sora, wait, we didn't-"

"Save it, Kairi!"

With that, Sora left the café, slamming the door behind him.

Kairi glared at Riku. "Why'd you have to go and say that for?"

"Well… it's not like you deny its true. You've been blaming Talia for all this shit since the last 4 weeks of school…"

Kairi sat silently. She couldn't say anything. It was true that she did blame Talia for everything. It seemed like everything now-a-days revolved around Talia, and frankly she was sick and tired of it.

"Know what…?" Kairi said quietly.

"What?"

"I'm glad she's finally leaving too…" Kairi smiled bitter-sweetly.

~AUL Final Chapter~

I walked down the crowded boardwalk with my friends as we all slurped on a slushy. My friends and I stayed at the beach until 3 and finally decided to get something to eat. Instead of getting food though, we got slushies. We all laughed as Pence's lemon lime one dripped down from his chin onto his clothes.

"I told you to get some napkins!" Olette playfully snapped at him.

"Oh shut up," Pence said as he wiped his chin with his arm.

_Simple and clean is the way_

_You're making me feel toni-_

"Hello?"

"Seriously… that song is so graduation. Change it already, will ya?" Hayner snickered along with the rest of my friends.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Hello…?"

"Talia?"

"Sora?"

"Yeah…"

"Hey, what's wrong…?"

Hayner and Pence eyed each other before making kissy faces at me. Roxas and Olette just rolled their eyes at their immatureness.

"It's just…"

"Hm?"

"Tally! We need to hit the rollercoaster before you leave! So chop chop!" Hayner clapped his hands at me.

"Oh… are you busy?" He asked.

"Well sort of, just hanging with the guys-"

"I'm not a guy!"

"…And Olette. Hey… are you still-"

"No, I'm fine!" Sora faked a laugh.

"Sora…"

"Hey… I'll talk to you later…" His voice sounded distant.

"But…" It was already 4. I would be leaving in the next hour or so.

"Oh… you'll be leaving soon, huh? Heh…"

"A-are you… going to the airport with my friends and me?" I asked, scared of his answer.

"Yeah. Hey, listen; I'll see you in a little bit, okay?"

"Alright…" I said.

I hung up when I heard my phone make the sound to let me know the other person had hung up.

"Everything okay?" Olette asked, worriedly.

"He's upset…" I said as I walked over to a near bench and sat down. My friends followed me and sat beside me.

"Everything will be fine, Tally!" Pence grinned at me.

"Talia," Roxas made me turn to face him. "Don't worry about it. If your love for each other is strong enough, then 4 years away shouldn't make a difference."

"Yeah, you just told him yesterday. You have to expect him to be a little upset, sweetie," Olette gently rubbed my hand.

"Yeah, you're right…"

"Man, Olette, if we have this drama, I'm calling this whole thing off," Hayner sighed.

"How bout we break up now so you don't have to worry about it later?" Olette glared up at him.

"No! I was just kidding!" Hayner stared at his girlfriend in horror.

"Hey, I think we should be heading back so you can pack! We'll meet you at the airport, okay?" Roxas stood up and held a hand out for me to grab.

I grabbed it as he pulled me up. "Okay…"

This day just went from great to horrible.

~AUL Final Chapter~

"Oh, Tally went to hang with her friends. She should be on her way back," Alana smiled at Talia's friends.

"Perfect…" The girl smirked as the other one eyed her suspiciously.

"Would you like anything to drink, dear?" Alana raised her brow.

"No thank you, Mrs. Kisaragi," the girl smiled gently.

Alana let out a hearty laugh and flipped her short blue hair. "Mrs? Please, I'm single! Anyway, call me Alana. It's cool."

"Okay," the girl smiled, "Alana."

"Is this necessary?" The other girl groaned as she followed her friend up the stairs to Talia's friend.

"I can't let her leave without some goodbye present, can I?" The girl smirked.

~AUL Final Chapter~

"Mom, I'm home!" I said as I slipped out of my flip flops and slammed the door shut.

"Oh hey baby, you better go hurry up and pack! Your father will be here any minute to pick you up to take you to the airport."

"Oh okay," I said as I made my way up the stairs.

"Oh yeah, and two of your friends from school are waiting for you in your room."

In my room? Who else did I know from school who I considered my friends? I mean unless it was Naminé, but she said another friend too.

Who else could that be?

"Talia!" I was attacked into a hug as soon as I entered my room.

Instincts kicking in, I pushed whoever was hugging off of me to come face to face with Kairi. What was she doing here? More importantly why was she in my room?

And with Naminé?

"Hey Tal…" Naminé waved shyly at me.

"Um hey what are you guys doing here?" I arched a brow at them.

"Came to see you off, of course!" Kairi grinned at me.

"But… I hate you…" I blinked at her.

"But we became best friends last night, did we not?"

No we did not.

"Um… no?"

"Yeah we did! Anyways, I thought I'd come over and properly say goodbye to you!" She grinned as she went over to my bed and sat on it beside Naminé.

"Um… okay? Well bye," I motioned my hands towards the door.

"Oh no silly, we're not leaving until you pack and on your way out the door!"

Naminé rolled her eyes. "I'll help you pack, Talia."

"Thanks, Nami," I smiled at the blonde as she pulled my suitcases from my closet.

"So Atlantica…" Kairi said as she picked up a random blue cami off my bed and flicked it off to the side. "I heard there are some pretty nice looking guys, down there."

"Yeah so?" I asked as I folded up some jeans.

"4 years… away… such a long time…" Kairi pretended to look away at something on the ceiling.

"Kairi, I thought we were above this now…"

"Old habits fade slowly," Naminé sucked her teeth as she tried to close one of my over-stuffed suitcases.

"Naminé! Why don't you take a rest and let me talk to Talia… alone," Kairi glared over at the blonde.

"I'm good," Nami smiled at Kairi innocently.

Kairi rolled her eyes and stood up off her bed.

"Look, Kisaragi, you're leaving. You expect Sora to be committed to you for 4 years straight without not even the slightest hint of cheating? Sora may be sweet, but he's still a guy. He still has needs. And love is one of those needs."

Kairi had a point. I didn't Sora not to… give in sometimes. It was going to be hard for me too.

"That's enough, Kai." Naminé said as she saw my mood slowly sadden.

"No she's right…" I said, trying not to let a tear slip from my eye.

Kairi smirked. "And it's not just one-sided. You'll meet new people too. You guys might not even feel the same for each other for when spring break and all those other breaks come. People change over time, Talia."

"Talia! Your father is here!" My mom called from downstairs.

"…"

Kairi was right. People do change. Sora will probably meet someone better than me at his college just as I will probably meet someone at my college. There's was no guarantee a long-distant relationship was going to work. It usually never did. I've had friends who tried to have them, but didn't work out in the end.

My relationship was going to be just like that.

Kairi came over to me and hugged me. "So… what's the point in coming back… at all?"

My eyes widened. When did I get so weak? Why were Kairi's words getting to me?

Was it because… it was the truth?

"Talia!" My mom called me.

"Coming," I yelled back.

Kairi let go of me and headed out the door. Naminé dragged 2 of my suitcases towards me.

"You're not going to listen to her… are you?" She asked.

"… I honestly don't know, Nami," I smiled sadly at her.

"Don't let her get to you… but she means good. Sometimes… Kairi just doesn't know how to be a friend," Naminé hugged me. "I'm going to miss you."

I smiled and hugged her back. "Me too."

"TALIA ARISA KISARAGI!"

"Guess you better go, huh?" Naminé giggled.

"Yeah," I laughed silently.

~AUL Final Chapter~

Sora sighed as he stared up at his bedroom ceiling. He knew Talia would already be on her way to the airport to be leaving. Was he really going to stay here and not see the love of his life go away for 4 years and not give her a proper goodbye?

_Slam!_

Sora's head snapped towards his door as he saw Riku standing there. He was leaning against the wall with his arm crossed, raising a brow at Sora.

"What are you doing here?" Sora asked.

"No, the question is what are _you _doing here?" Riku asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Being depressed while my girlfriend is about to aboard an airplane to some other country."

"Why aren't you seeing her off?" Riku grabbed a chair from Sora's messy desk and plopped down in it.

"It's… going to be too hard…" Sora let out a heavy sigh as he sat up on his bed.

"Since when did you become such a sissy? Ha, I mean you used to be, but you changed when you turned like 17. What happened? You gonna let a _girl_ make you depressed?" Riku laughed.

"…"

Riku sighed and looked around his best friend's junky room. There were dirty clothes and school books scattered everywhere. His eyes then landed on a picture frame in perfect condition of Sora and Talia when they went to the movies together. It was the only thing in the room in perfect condition.

"Hey…you really love her… don't you?" Riku asked.

"Yeah… I do…"

"So… why don't you go to the airport and tell her to stay? She'll do it… if you just ask. I know she will… because she loves you just as much."

Sora laughed bitterly. "I can't do that…"

"Why not?" Riku arched a brow.

"My mom… once told me… that if you love someone, you have to do what's best for them… even if it hurts you."

"But… what if it hurts the other person too…?"

"She'll get over it…"

"No she won't. She's going to be hurting until she comes back."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"…That my friend," Riku said as he walked towards the door. "…Is up for you to decide. But just think about this; what are you going to do if Talia decides to stay in Atlantica?"

"…"

"Exactly. Anyways, bye! I'll call ya later! Got a date with Rikku!" Riku said as he exited Sora's room.

Sora looked at his clock. 5:30. Talia should already be at the airport, about to aboard. He has to hurry up and get there if he is planning to see her off.

Realizing this, Sora jumped off the bed and out the door. He couldn't let her leave without some type of closure.

~AUL Final Chapter~

"When you get there, make sure you call me! No wait; call me as soon as you switch planes!" Olette politely fussed at me.

I smiled at her. "I got it!"

"I'm going to miss you sweetie," She hugged me.

I immediately hugged her. "Thanks, Olette. I love you…"

"I love you too," She squeezed me tighter.

"Um, the rest of us would like to say some departing words to Talia, too" Hayner interrupted.

"God, I'm not dying, Hayner," I playfully glared at him.

"I know… but if you do, can I have your mini flat screen in your room?" He joked as he hugged me.

"Yeah, sure. Keep him away from my room," I said to Roxas as he smiled at me.

"Psh, whatever!" Hayner said as he let go.

I grinned at him. "You know I love you!"

"Yeah yeah, love you too…" He mumbled.

"Well, Tal, see you in December, I guess?" Pence said as we knuckle-punched.

"You know it, buddy!"

"Don't change while you're over there, okay, Tally Mark?" Pence grinned.

"Ugh, Tally Mark… I still despise that nickname, but you can count on me not changing!"

"Great! Make sure to bring me back some food, okay?"

"Got ya!" I smiled at him. My smile faded as I turned towards my blonde friend.

My best friend.

"So this is goodbye, huh?" He asked.

"Not a goodbye-"

"More like a see ya later? Ha, you've been saying that for years," he smiled gently down at me.

"Oh you know me so well," I playfully punched his arm.

Instead of my hand making contact he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him.

"Talia… be careful."

I felt the tears welling up in my eyes as I hugged him back. "I will… I promise…"

"How come blondie gets tears and all we got were jokes," Hayner asked Olette.

"Hayner hush! You know what they've been through!" Olette glared at him.

"Still…" He mumbled under his breath before yelping out in pain as Olette stomped on his foot. "Such an abusive girlfriend…"

"Well… I guess Sora isn't coming," I said as I wiped my tears away.

"Oh honey…" Olette said sympathetically.

"I'm fine," I smiled. "Well my plane is taking passengers now… guess I better-"

"Talia…?"

I stopped midsentence and turned around to see Sora, breathing heavily as he stared at me.

My heart instantly stopped beating at the sight of him. "H-hi…"

"C'mon guys, lets hit the food court!" Pence said as he started pulling my friends towards the restaurants in the airport.

"Aw, but the food here is so expensive!" Hayner complained.

"Deal with it," Olette said as they all walked away.

I stood completely still as Sora walked up to me.

"Hi…" he smiled kindly at me.

"Hey…" I smiled back, trying not to let my tears spill out.

"Listen I-"

"We need to-"

"You go ahead," he said.

"Um… I'm sorry… for everything…" I turned my attention away from him.

"Sorry for what? Telling me you're going to college? That's nothing to apologize for," He laughed slightly.

His laugh…

I was going to miss that.

"B-but I told you at the last minute!" I quickly looked up at him.

"It's okay…" He still smiled at me.

"…You're not upset?"

"No…"

"…I'm going to miss you…" I finally said.

"…"

"Ha, but I'll be back! Kairi earlier today tried to convince me not to come back because she was all we're going to meet new people-"

"Kairi's right…" Sora suddenly looked down at me in a serious way. "Riku's right. They're both right…"

A tear actually dropped then. "W-what do you mean?"

"Talia… you're going over 500 miles away from me. We're going to different places. We're going to meet new people… and-"

"… So… what you're trying to say is that we should-"

"No! No, of course no-"

I smiled sadly as I let the tears flow down. "Yeah, Sora, you are. I'm smart, remember? I know where this going to lead too…"

"I'm not breaking up with you!" He looked down at me angrily. "Why would I end something with someone I'm so deeply in love with?"

I gasped. That did it.

"Talia, I love you. More than anything. I don't want to end things between us. I don't… but…"

"We're not gonna really see each other as much as planned, huh?" I asked.

Sora simply shook his head.

"So… what should we do? If we're not breaking up…?" I asked.

"Take a break?"

"Ha, a break? We've only been dating for about 4 days." I smiled bitter-sweetly.

"Talia, please… I know. I don't-"

"Okay…" I said.

"Okay?"

"Yeah, fine. I agree that is what's best too. Because, who's even certain I can even afford to come back here during holidays and breaks?"

"… Talia…"

"Look, I have to go…"

Before I could even walk away, Sora grabbed me and crashed his lips on me. I stood in a daze.

A break…

4 years without Sora…

A lot could happen in 4 years…

I instantly closed my eyes tight and wrapped my arms around him, trying to make this moment last as long as it could.

He pulled away after a few minutes. "You need to go before you miss your plane…"

All I could do was nod.

"Hey! Cheer up… I'm pretty sure that…" He blushed a little.

"What?"

"That… I probably won't love anyone else but you…"

I smiled at this. "I'm positive…"

He did his infamous grin at me before it faded.

"I love you…"

"I love you too…"

He snapped out from his trance and smiled at me again. "Now go! Call me when you get there…"

"Okay…" I said as I started walking towards my gate.

"Hey Tally-Chan!" He called after me.

"Yeah?" I turned around and looked at him.

"I'm going to miss you," I saw a tear run down his cheek.

I smiled as tears fell from my eyes uncontrollably. "I'm going to miss you too…"

~AUL Final Chapter~

"Thank you for boarding Destiny Sunset Airlines. We are about to take off. Please buckle up and we'll be on our way to Mulan Airport."

I looked out my window at the airport window where people watched the planes take off. As I was turning away from the window, something caught my attention at the last minute.

I saw my all my friends and family holding a huge sign at the window saying:

"_Good Luck, Talia! Come back soon!"_

Tears poured down my eyes as my plane started down the runway, slowly lifting into to the air.

I thought about my last few weeks at Destiny high; how I met Sora, the drama, the friendship problems, the enemies.

Now that I think about it, Kairi, Riku, Sora, Olette, Hayner, Pence, and Roxas all did that stuff out of love. My friend's love for me and not wanting to see me get hurt and Sora's friends for him for not wanting him to associate with someone not as popular as him.

And even though they sabotaged and tricked us, we still won the war.

But even after all of that… there are still obstacles ahead of us.

I guess our love will always be…

_**An Unwilling Love.**_

~AUL Final Chapter~

_4 months later_

"Mr. Akamura, please give this to the secretary in the office please," Sora's professor asked him.

"Sure sir," Sora smiled at the teacher and took the stack of papers.

He walked out the classroom and down the empty hallway. It was a typical school day at Destiny U. Most of the students were either on lunch break or in class. Sora couldn't wait to get home to call Riku and tell him about how one of his teachers' tried to hit on him today.

Talk about gross.

Sora laughed at the thought of Riku's reaction when he told him.

Not noticing someone in the hallway, he bumped into someone.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay," A girl with blackish-brownish hair looked over at Sora who had somehow flipped onto his back.

She scampered over to him and looked down at him. "Oh my God, are you hurt? Do I need to get the nurse?"

Sora wasn't listening to the girl as he was staring at her big brown chocolate eyes. "Um… I-"

"I'm going to get the nurse…" The girl started to walk away.

Sora instantly sat upright and grabbed the girl before she could leave.

"I'm fine! Trust me!" He grinned at her.

"Oh that's great! I'm so sorry… my friend told me I should stop tying my shoe in the middle of the hall," The brunette shook her head while smiling.

"It's okay…" He said as he started gathering his papers together.

The girl quickly realized what he was doing before bending down before helping him. Sora looked up at the girl as her long brown hair fall over her face. She was wearing a black cami with some sort of sleeveless blue vest over it and black shorts. On her feet were simple black tennis shoes. Feeling someone watching her, she looked up and pushed her hair out of her face.

Sora couldn't help this had happened somewhere else before. It felt so familiar.

"Oh, my name is Rinoa, by the way," the girl smiled at Sora.

"Rinoa…"

"Um… yes?" Rinoa eyed him suspiciously.

"Oh sorry… oh um, I'm Sora," Sora said as they both stood up.

"Sora, huh? Nice to meet ya!" She held out her hand for him to shake.

"Um… nice to meet you too," He smiled at her and shook her hand.

Being in some sort of trance, Sora didn't realize he was still holding Rinoa's hand.

"Um… you can let go now," She smiled shyly at him.

"Oh yeah, sorry," He said as he quickly let go.

"It's cool! Hey, I'll catch ya later, okay?" Rinoa said as she waved him a goodbye and ran down the hall.

This definitely felt familiar to Sora…

Oh well, he'll worry about it later.

All he knew was he was somehow really hoping to see Rinoa later.

~AUL Final Chapter~

A/N: YES FINISHED! LAST CHAPTER! It's not good but oh wells. It got the point across. Talia and Sora are on a break. Talia's in Atlantica. And the ending? Oh ho ho what was that ending about? Does this mean I have sequel in store for my book? Only the future can tell! Thank you for those who stuck with me until the end! I really appreciate it! Well, bye! I'm off to work on some other projects =)


	17. Author's Alert

**This is not a chapter.**

Hi guys, for those who don't know, this story has a sequel to it. It's called Sky of Tears. I just thought I let everyone that the story does NOT end with this story. So go and read it!

xxKingdomxxHeartsxxGirl


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